The union representing school support workers says it received indication from the province that the government is willing to return to the bargaining table on Thursday.
“We look forward to seeing government’s revised position and are confident that they have heard from Nova Scotians how important school support workers are to our communities,” Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a news release. “We will be happy to recommend a tentative agreement to our members that addresses their significant and serious concerns about their working conditions and compensation.”
On Wednesday, CUPE said it would issue a 48-hour strike notice on Friday if the employer did not offer a deal that would boost wages by at least $3.50 an hour over four years.
The Nova Scotia School Board Council of Unions, which co-ordinates bargaining efforts for affected members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, posted a bargaining update on Tuesday evening.
“This weekend, we were hoping that government and the employers would come back to the table, knowing that a strike is looming. Instead of taking the opportunity to settle our contract before job action, they’re trying to wait us out,” the update said.
The council said if an acceptable deal is not presented, a provincewide strike would begin on Monday, Nov. 2.
Across the province, CUPE represents 5,500 workers, including early childhood educators in the pre-primary program, educational program assistants and teaching assistants, bus drivers, librarians, janitors, cafeteria workers, African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaw student support workers, and others.
If a strike occurred, it would impact different regions in the province in different ways, since CUPE represents different workers with each regional centre for education and the French school board, Conseil scolaire acadien provincial.
Nelson Scott, the chair of the Nova Scotia School Board Council of Unions, told CBC Radio’s Information Morning Cape Breton on Wednesday morning the wage demand would bring the lowest-paid CUPE members up to a wage of at least $24 an hour.
“We want them to come back to the table before Monday, over the weekend, whatever the case may be, to give us a good minimum wage that we can live with so we can move forward,” he said.
“We don’t want to be on strike. We want to be in the school doing what we do to help the students and support the students and their families.
“We are doing everything we can to avoid this job action. But if the government don’t come back to the table, it leaves us no other choice. And we want to be clear that … the clock is ticking.… It’s in their hands now.”
Education minister responds
On Thursday, Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Brendan Maguire said he didn’t want to comment on specific contract demands because the bargaining process is ongoing.
“My focus right now is to ensure that kids have access to school and our most vulnerable children are able to go to school on Monday and every other day, so that’s why we are encouraging … CUPE to come to the table today and tomorrow and help us prevent any type of job actions,” he said.
Maguire said the CUPE members play important roles in the province’s schools.
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said families across the province are making emergency plans in the event of a strike.
“I think what this government needs to do is go back to the table and bargain in good faith, and they seem to be most able to do that with the highest-paid employees and least able to do that with the folks on the front lines, the folks who take care of our kids every day,” she said.
“These are really important jobs. You know, as we see from the prospective impacts of this strike, without these front-line workers, our education system grinds to a halt.”
Source: CBC Nova Scotia