Below are frequently asked questions about the ETEA. Click on the question you wish to obtain information on. If your question is not represented in the FAQ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it via email. .

1. I pay monthly membership fees to the ETEA. How much are these fees, and what happens to them?
2. If I never do anything that requires defense from ETEA, can I get my money back?
3. What if I don’t agree with the way ETEA handles its funds?
4. What should I do if I have a question about the way I am being handled by ILSC Management?
5. Can I be fired for complaining through ETEA?
6. What are your rights as a worker in BC?
7. I arrived just a few minutes late for work, and now I’m being punished. What’s up with that?
8. How are Part-Timers converted to Regular Status?
9. What are my rights as a member of ETEA?
10. What is FPSE?
11. I’ve moved to a new home. How can I update my contact information with ETEA?

1. I pay monthly membership fees to the ETEA. How much are these fees, and what happens to them? ETEA collects a fee equal to 1.95% of your bi-weekly paycheque. These funds go toward a host of different things that benefit you:
   • Membership in FPSE, the B.C. Federation of Labour, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).
   • Consultation with, and assistance from FPSE, our mother union, regarding legal questions and the defense of ETEA members and the Collective Agreement.
   • Fees for arbitration provided by FPSE, if it is needed.
   • Support from FPSE in negotiating the Collective Agreement.
   • Legal Fees, if representation of our members becomes necessary.
   • Release time for members of ETEA who participate in negotiating the Collective Agreement.
   • Compensation of ETEA executive and shop stewards for the time they spend defending ETEA members, and the collective agreement during their mandate.
   • Costs of office rental and services.
   • Costs for rental of meeting venues.
   • Occasional costs for ETEA representatives to attend professional workshops and development activities at FPSE events.
   • Educational opportunities, ie: in-house workshops for our local.
   • Material costs. (Copies of ETEA documents, announcements, etc.)
   • Auditing costs.
   • Periodic union socials.
   
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2. If I never do anything that requires defense from ETEA, can I get my money back? Although it may be tempting to think that you are not benefiting from your membership in the ETEA, remember that the wages you earn, and the rights and benefits you enjoy are what they are because of the ETEA, and the hard work of dedicated members who have fought to achieve them. Your support helps give ETEA the means to provide incentives to its members to continue fighting for rights and benefits that affect all of us. If you wish to play a part in this work, you have the right to run for a position as an executive member or shop steward.Some people argue that they shouldn’t have to pay union dues if they personally don’t like unions. That’s like saying that you shouldn’t have to pay for police if you never commit crimes, or for roads if you never drive. But the police provide a safer environment for you to live in, and roads enable trucks to transport goods to the supermarkets that you shop in. Part of participating in society means sharing in costs that may not directly interest us, because those costs directly or indirectly help provide services that we all need. It doesn’t make sense to refuse to pay taxes for things that you didn’t personally ask for, especially when those things help to improve your life.In the case of the union, it can help to achieve and maintain a working environment that is better than would exist without a union. As stated above, this extends from wages, to medical benefits, protection from unfair labour practices, and better job security. You may never find yourself in direct confrontation with management, but to a large degree, that is because the Union has helped create a structure in which management must respect workers, whether it wants to or not. The result is a working environment where you are treated fairly and with the respect and dignity you deserve. Without a union, an employer can hire, promote, demote and fire without having to account for its logic, and there is often little or no room for workers to express discontent or even disagreement. In the case of the ESL industry, monthly contracts are the standard even for regular teachers who have been employed at the same place for years, because when workers are under contract, it is not required to provide them with many baseline benefits. Regardless of what an employer may tell workers about how good things could be if it weren’t for the union, if that were really the case, the workers probably wouldn’t have formed a union in the first place. By and large, unions are organized by workers who feel they have been treated unjustly, or without proper regard for the qualifications they bring to the workplace, or the wealth they produce for their employer. It is important not to think of ETEA coffers as a bank from which you can draw whenever you wish. The overall protection that you enjoy under the auspices of the Collective Agreement is a bargain at the price of just a cup of coffee a day. Think of the Union as an insurance policy: You never know when you’re going to need it, so you need it all the time.
   
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3. What if I don’t agree with the way ETEA handles its funds? As a member of ETEA, you have a right to attend ETEA’s general meetings, where you are free to propose and debate changes to ETEA’s policies, to propose changes to the debate, and to vote on the budget. ETEA encourages you to get involved in this way.
   
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4. What should I do if I have a question about the way I am being handled by ILSC Management? Consult an ETEA shop steward or executive member as soon as possible.
   
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5. Can I be fired for complaining through ETEA? No. Under the Labour Relations Code of British Columbia, you are significantly more protected from unfair firing working under a Union than you are without. For specific laws relating to firing an employee for complaining, see the Labour Relations Code, 2.4.1,2 ; 2.5.d ; 2.6.1 ; 2.8
   
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6. What are your rights as a worker in BC? See link to Labour Relations Board
   
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7. I arrived just a few minutes late for work, and now I’m being punished. What’s up with that? ETEA recognizes the right of ILSC to manage its affairs. ILSC’s lateness policy is written in the Teacher’s Handbook, and we encourage you to familiarize yourself with it. That said, from time to time, there may be extenuating circumstances surrounding such latenesses which ETEA can address with management. If you have reason to believe that yours may be such a case, you are encouraged to contact an ETEA steward or executive member. We will investigate your case to determine if it is defensible.The same extends to ILSC’s policies regarding various kinds of paperwork that are required from teachers at different times during the teaching session.
   
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8. How are Part-Timers converted to Regular Status? For an explanation of the parameters of ILSC Employees, please see the Collective Agreement, Article 2, Definitions.
   
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9. What are my rights as a member of ETEA? See the page “Your Rights”, on this website.
   
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10. What is FPSE? FPSE stands for Federation of Post Secondary Educators, our umbrella organization. For more information about FPSE, please visit their website: http://www.fpse.ca
    
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11. I’ve moved to a new home. How can I update my contact information with ETEA? See our “Update Your Contact Info” page.
    
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