Teacher wins battle to hang union sign outside classroom

A teacher who hung a small sign outside her classroom identifying herself as a “staff representative” for her union — and filed a grievance in 2006 after...

Teacher wins battle to hang union sign outside classroom

A teacher who hung a small sign outside her classroom identifying herself as a “staff representative” for her union — and filed a grievance in 2006 after...

A teacher who hung a small sign outside her classroom identifying herself as a “staff representative” for her union — and filed a grievance in 2006 after the principal ordered it down — has won a decision in a lengthy battle over freedom of expression.

It’s the third ruling in recent years backing union arguments that teachers have constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression in schools.

In a 69-page ruling, arbitrator John Steeves sided with Brenda Head and the Abbotsford and District Teachers’ Association, saying removal of the sign, one of many hanging on the school’s walls, could not be justified and left the erroneous impression that the staff rep and her union were not a part of the school.

The thin plastic sign, 45 mm by 200 mm, was an “expression about pride and support for the union and it reflected the status of the [teacher] as a union representative who participates in the dialogue of the workplace, in the context of the collective agreement and legislation. This is a form of political democracy and it requires a high level of protection,” Steeves wrote in his decision.

In recent years, two other arbitrations — by Don Munroe and John Kinzie — affirmed teachers’ right to post notices in schools and distribute letters to parents criticizing government over issues such as class size, and to ask students to carry letters in sealed envelopes home to parents.

The latest case began with the start of school in 2006 when Head was settling into a new classroom at the Abbotsford traditional middle school.

According to evidence at a two-day hearing in December, she hung the sign outside her door so that teachers, especially new ones, could find her and because she was proud to have been elected as a union representative.

It was one of several signs on the school’s walls, including others identifying the general office and the learning assistance centre as well as student photographs, sports awards and a display about Harry Potter and the 2010 Olympics.

When district officials found out about the sign, they contacted principal Daljeet Ramma and advised her she had the authority to decide what signage is permitted and that the union has a bulletin board for posting information. Eventually, Ramma ordered the sign down and the union filed a grievance.

In April 2007, district principal George Keys sent an e-mail to all principals, advising them about the grievance and urging them to remove “staff representative” signs posted in any place other than the union bulletin board.

Some followed his directions, and some did not.

The school district and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association acknowledged that teachers have freedom-of-expression protections, but argued they do not have the right to use the walls outside a classroom “as a forum for promulgating their message,” the ruling noted.

Steeves accepted that principals have the right to make policy about signs in schools, and said there are undoubtedly signs about union affairs that would not be appropriate in school hallways.

But this particular sign, unobtrusive and inoffensive, was not one of them, he concluded.

He cited a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling in the Munroe case that concluded: “School grounds are public property where public expression must be valued and given its place.”

Hugh Finlayson, chief executive officer of the employers’ association, said the dispute was a local one and not likely to have implications for other districts.

But Irene Lanzinger, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, said the decision was “a great victory” and another freedom-of-speech win for teachers.

Abbotsford officials refused to comment.