I’m running for 2nd Vice President of the BCTF to offer members a choice in changing the direction of the union. Elections make our union stronger and are key to increased member engagement. I’d like to help build common ground in our union. And I’d like to help unite us in common cause and equity.
Now, during the time of COVID-19, the priorities of member engagement and open communication at all levels of the BCTF are even more important than before. That’s why member engagement continues to be central to my campaign and vision for the BCTF.
If elected, I will focus on member engagement, raising the status of the teaching profession, and achieving equity at all levels of our union. To be specific, raising our professional status will be achieved by securing professional wages, professional workloads, and professional autonomy for all members. It’s time that we work together to figure out, and then achieve, what’s alluded us for too long.
With your support, members can send a message on the importance of building strength through common ground and equity. But we need more than just words. My hope is that by electing a relative newcomer to provincial BCTF politics, you will send more than just a message, but also a call to action.
Achieving equity requires more engagement with members, bringing all voices and experiences to the table, making transparency central to our decision making processes, and a deep and enduring commitment to equity within and beyond the union.
At the heart of my campaign is unity. I’m running as a non-partisan candidate because I want to help build bridges between the various perspectives on the executive and in the union. Our provincial executive is a strong group of passionate teachers with diverse points of view and experience from across the province. Working together we’re all stronger when we focus on common ground issues that will raise the status of the teaching profession. Every member benefits when we focus on achieving professional pay, professional workloads, and professional autonomy.
My experience primarily as a local activist of a remote and rural local can help inform how the BCTF achieves the goals of securing and defending professional pay, professional workload, and professional autonomy. It was as a local president that I learned the value of listening, bridge building, uniting around a focused and clear vision, and working for equity together.
If elected, I will:
- Build on the achievements already in place through past union leadership and activism – supporting and adding to the great work that has brought us to where we are today.
- Advocate for greater transparency in how decisions are reached, and work to involve more members in key decision making processes.
- Make member engagement, especially in terms of affirmative action and equity within the union, a priority.
- Listen to leadership from equity-seeking groups and seek the expertise and experience that already exists within our ranks to help us understand and take action towards making equity a reality.
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I will also work to:
- Help simplify and focus our core messages to the public and members
- Make pay, workload, and autonomy the foundation of the union’s overall approach to building power, defending public education, and raising the status of the profession.
- Stand up for the communities we serve and work in solidarity for meaningful improvements to the educational and social conditions of marginalized communities throughout the province.
- Advance equity and reconciliation at all levels of our work as a union.
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