“I love everything about the bargaining process. It is a process of hope for better.” – Joanne Hapke, Provincial Bargaining Team member
With our collective agreement expiring this June, now is the time for the Provincial Bargaining Team members to be seconded from their classrooms or union offices and begin working together full time, developing strategies for success and crafting proposals to make improvements for teachers across the province.
New to the bargaining process? Here are some nuts and bolts:
The BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) is the certified bargaining agent for all of BC’s 51,000 public school teachers. We sit across the table from the BC Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), which bargains for BC’s 60 public school boards. While local matters are negotiated at the school district level, all cost items—including compensation—are bargained at the provincial table.
The BCTF is committed to giving members a voice in setting our priorities for each round of bargaining. To that end, we hold a Bargaining Conference about one year before every collective agreement expires, where teachers from across the province come together to discuss the issues and agree upon our bargaining objectives. It’s no surprise that workload, salary, and recruitment and retention emerged as key concerns at our Bargaining Conference held in May 2024.
We also strongly believe that teachers themselves are best positioned to negotiate on our behalf. With deep experience in the classroom, our Bargaining Team members understand better than anyone why the improvements we’re advocating for are so urgently needed. Our team members are deeply invested in the profession, and they are passionate about supporting teachers both as workers and as professionals.
“This year I am hoping the employer recognizes they need to work on their respect for teachers and the jobs we do,” said team member Joanne Hapke. “We need a wage increase to make this job more desirable. We need to be heard as the professionals we are and get the supports we are requesting for our students and classrooms.”
Our negotiators bring a lot of experience and skill to the table, and a zest for the work. Winona Waldron says she enjoys the intellectual challenge of “crafting language with teeth that members can depend on,” and persuading the employer by “making an argument they can’t refute!”
The BCTF’s Provincial Bargaining Team is also supported by a diverse group of specialists on the staff of the BCTF: experts in labour law, educational research, employee benefits, health and safety, communications, professional issues, and more. Together, they’re committed to achieving the best possible collective agreement to meet the needs of BC teachers.
Scroll down to meet the Bargaining Team and read more about each member and their hopes for this round. And watch bctf.ca and future issues of Teacher for more information as this round of negotiations opens.
Meet the Bargaining Team
Alexandra Adhikary
Alex teaches Spanish, French, and English First Peoples at North Peace Secondary School in Fort St. John, on the traditional lands of the Tsááʔ çhé ne dane within Treaty 8 territory.
She loves teaching students over multiple years and seeing their language skills grow. “It makes me so proud when students come back and share stories of how they have used language or content learned in my classroom,” she says. “I am also very proud of the safe and welcoming environment I have created in my classroom.”
Alex served on her local bargaining team in the last round and enjoyed researching and writing proposals and seeing them unfold at the table. “I look forward to working on proposals at a provincial level on behalf of all members.”
Alex has been involved in her local and the BCTF since the beginning of her teaching career because she was inspired by her mom, also a strong teacher union activist. Some of her favourite work has been advocating for new and early career teachers, engaging colleagues locally in social justice work, and learning from our international partners while participating in international solidarity work.
Alex loves travelling and going to the gym. “I recently became a certified spin instructor and there is just something about getting on the bike and hearing the music going that brightens my day,” she said. “I love being outdoors, reading, and spending time with family and friends, especially over coffee or tea.”
As a full-time classroom teacher for over a decade, Alex has witnessed the changes and understands the severity of underfunding and the reality of unsafe schools. “I value the connections I have throughout the province and have always listened to what is going on for all members.” •
Joanne Hapke
Over her 35-year career, Joanne has never lost her love of working with Kindergartners. Currently teaching at Harwin Elementary in her home city of Prince George, she says, “I get to spend 10 months with 20 children each year, guiding them to love learning, love themselves, learning how to be a respectful community member, and how to use their voices to stand up for themselves and others. And when things go sideways, we get to sing and do the Hokey Pokey!”
Joanne has served on the executive of the Prince George District Teachers’ Association (PGDTA) for 30 years, first as treasurer, then as vice-president, and finally as president. During her five years as president of the PGDTA, Joanne found advocating for members to be tremendously rewarding: “Supporting struggling members with the help and tools they need and seeing their success in the process made the long days fulfilling.”
Joanne has always been a strong advocate for teachers’ rights and has broad experience advocating both within the public education system and the broader labour movement as a table officer on the North Central Labour Council.
“I have been at every local bargaining table for the past 30 years: I’ve visited schools with presentations, I have walked many picket lines, and I was strike co-ordinator each time we went on strike.”
Joanne says it’s important to identify changes needed to support teachers in our current education system, which are very different from what was bargained 30 years ago.
“Creating language that makes our jobs and lives easier is a very positive experience as we prepare to head to the bargaining table,” she said. “I am excited to have this opportunity to be part of a team working for all teachers in the province.”
Joanne and her husband David have three kids, a dog, and a cat. She loves to read, garden, and float along the beautiful Nechako River in the summer. •
Debbie Morran
Debbie has more than 20 years’ experience teaching middle school in Parksville, while being active in her local, the Mount Arrowsmith Teachers’ Association (MATA). She served as vice-president and then president of MATA for five years.
In 2015, Debbie came on staff of the BCTF as an assistant director in the Field Service Division. She is currently responsible for collective agreement enforcement (provincial grievances) and supporting the Provincial Bargaining Team.
A veteran of the past two rounds of provincial bargaining (2019–2022 and 2022–2025), Debbie says her most memorable experience came in March 2020, with the world on the brink of the pandemic and our schools about to close. That’s when the BCTF team, with the help of a mediator, was able to secure a provincial collective agreement for the members. “It’s very different working with a mediator, but it was a great experience,” Debbie recalls.
Her proudest moment was achieving a negotiated provincial collective agreement in 2022 that resulted in substantial gains in salary and benefits. “Here in BC, we did very well. Other provinces were not able to achieve the gains that we were able to,” she said.
And in the wake of that success, “I really enjoy hearing from members whose health has been positively impacted by the benefit improvements we bargained.”
Debbie brings to the table years of bargaining experience, both locally and provincially, and an ability to facilitate groups with diverse perspectives. She takes tremendous satisfaction in collaborating with her fellow team members and writing proposals that will benefit members.
Her hopes for this round? “To continue to build upon the success of the last round, and to keep working toward the shortening of the salary grid.” •
Trevor Takasaki
As a person of Japanese Canadian heritage, Trevor experienced “blatant racism” during his early career, experiences that made him doubt he truly had a place in the profession and the union.
But when his local president and vice-president both asked him to consider becoming involved in their local, “I was forced … to drop my defense of seeing myself as a perpetual outsider. Being invited to the table made all the difference to me. I hadn’t even realized I was waiting to be asked.”
Once he got started, Trevor has never stopped serving the members of the Maple Ridge Teachers’ Association (MRTA). Currently MRTA Vice-President, Trevor has served as president, bargaining chair, and lead negotiator in the local. One of his best achievements was getting a mid-contract modification that included all exceptional students in their class-size and composition language.
“It was a massive win for teachers and, even though many thought it wasn’t going to be possible, we succeeded,” he said. “It was a team effort, and I was proud to be part of it.”
Trevor’s teaching experience is in English, philosophy, woodworking, and support for gifted students, first at Westview Secondary and later at Thomas Haney Secondary in Maple Ridge. The class he most enjoyed teaching was Philosophy 12, because he could tap into his educational background and passion for political philosophy.
“Where political philosophy overlaps with bargaining is in using the ability to conceptualize abstractly, think deeply and clearly, consider all possibilities, and process novel arguments and positions effectively,” he says.
Trevor and his wife Marcia have three wonderful kids and a new puppy. Together they enjoy camping, reading, and creative pursuits like pottery, leatherwork, woodwork, and gardening. “Anything that has to do with creativity and beauty brings us joy,” he says. •
Robin Tosczak
Since she started teaching 14 years ago, Robin has been actively involved in the union, both locally and provincially. She held several elected positions in the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association (GVTA), including health and safety, grievance officer, and first vice-president. She also represented the GVTA and BCTF on the Victoria Labour Council Executive.
Robin has been a member of the BCTF Executive Committee since 2016, and currently serves as Second Vice-President. She was a lead negotiator in the last round of provincial bargaining and is tremendously proud of what they accomplished, including improvements to pregnancy leave, professional development funding, and a historic salary increase.
“I’m really looking forward to working with fellow Bargaining Team members to secure the best deal possible in this round,” she said. “We know there is a teacher recruitment and retention crisis. By bargaining improvements to our collective agreement we can make teaching in BC more attractive and sustainable.”
Robin is on leave from the Greater Victoria School District, where she is a primary English language learner and early literacy teacher. Before becoming a teacher, she worked in arts administration and sexual assault response and prevention.
Outside of her union work, Robin is an active member of her local Odd Fellows Lodge. She has also served as the president of the Theatre SKAM Board, and she is currently on the board of the Vancouver Fringe Festival.
“I love spending time looking at mushrooms and lichen in the forest, starting crafts I won’t finish, attending weird theatre, and being a very proud auntie to five awesome nieces,” Robin says. •
Winona Waldron
Currently serving as First Vice-President of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association (GVTA), Winona is seconded from an English language learner position to a Grade 1 position. Over her career she has taught K–12 but finds most joy in teaching early primary grades at inner-city schools.
“I love teaching reading. There is something incredible about being present when a child has that first ‘aha’ moment and realizes they can read,” she said.
A wonderfully supportive staff rep at her first school inspired Winona to get involved in the union. “The next school I was at didn’t have a staff rep, and I knew I should step up.”
From there, Winona went on to serve in many union positions.
“I had the great privilege of being chosen as one of the Women in Negotiations facilitators in 2016, and this led to many opportunities both locally and provincially,” Winona said. “I highly recommend that people take the opportunity to put their name forward for union positions that excite them.”
Winona took on the role of lead negotiator in the last two rounds of local bargaining in Greater Victoria, and she has served on the BCTF Executive Committee since 2022.
Winona’s most challenging role was being president of the GVTA through COVID. And her proudest moment was negotiating the first racialized equity hiring agreement in the province.
In this round of provincial bargaining, she hopes for “a team that works collaboratively together to meet the objectives set by the Bargaining Conference,” and to achieve “improvements that every BCTF member can see the benefits of.”
In her spare time, Winona is an avid reader, especially historical fiction and Canadian Indigenous authors. She lives with her spouse, two children, and daughter-in-law. Her partner and son are both CUPE members working for School District 61, and her daughter is a student who aims to pursue international law. Two beloved shih tzus and a cat round out the family. •
Sarah York
Over her career, Sarah has taught all K–12 grades, science, math, career, physical health and education, and textiles, but her favourite assignment is her current one teaching food studies at Alberni District Secondary School in Port Alberni.
“I love teaching food studies because there is never a dull moment! It’s challenging with the tight budgets, seemingly endless grocery shopping for classes, and a lack of supports for kids,” she says. “But I love seeing students learning practical skills they will use their whole lives, finding out that they like certain foods that they made for themselves, and figuring out how to collaborate.”
She brings to the table an equally broad range of experience in union roles, including Women in Negotiations, professional development rep, health and safety rep, bargaining chair, secretary/treasurer, and local representative.
“I became interested in union work through curiosity about the bargaining process, mostly, and wanting to volunteer in ways that make a difference for my co-workers,” she said.
Sarah enjoys the bargaining process because the work is challenging, engaging, and provides opportunities to learn alongside colleagues.
Sarah has one son. She volunteers with Emergency Support Services, which aids families needing accommodation, food, and supplies after an emergency or natural disaster. She is also on the board of directors for Outreach Therapy, a non-profit that offers professional services for children six and under, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and childhood mental health supports. She enjoys sewing and hiking, and she also plays in a marimba band! •