New Westminster Teachers Win Fight for Fair Pay, Plaque
This bronze plaque is located at the New Westminster Secondary School Library at 835 8th St. New Westminster, BC. It was developed with the support of the BC Teachers’ Federation, the BOAG Foundation, and the BC Retired Teachers’ Association.
The plaque was cast at Ornamental Bronze, a unionized foundry in Richmond which has operated since 1928. It was unveiled on October 30, 2017.
This is one of many Plaques around the Province, a project of the BC Labour Heritage Centre which aims to recognize events, actions, episodes, movements, or experiences that played a significant role in the history of the labour movement and working people in all regions of British Columbia.
New Westminster teachers win fight for fair pay, bargaining rights
The plaque reads: In 1921, New Westminster teachers became embroiled in a dispute with their school board over low salaries. George Ford, President of the New Westminster Teachers’ Association, urged that the dispute be resolved through arbitration, but trustees refused and threatened to fire the teachers instead. On February 14, 1921, the teachers went on strike for five days to back their demand for a fair salary. Concerned citizens rallied behind them and put enough pressure on the trustees to get them to the negotiating table, and ultimately into arbitration. In the 1922 municipal elections, the school board went down to defeat. Soon after, the new board paid teachers the arbitrated award and agreed to recognize the NWTA as the teachers’ legitimate bargaining agent. This early action by New Westminster teachers was an important step for all BC teachers in their long struggle for full bargaining rights. BC Labour Heritage Centre British Columbia Teachers' Federation 2017 Union Made