Nova Scotia school support workers could strike in 10 days, CUPE says

More than 5,500 school support workers across Nova Scotia could be on strike in 10 days, CUPE National said on Oct. 16, as negotiations between eight CUPE locals and the province's Regional Centres for Education and Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial near an impasse.¹

Nelson Scott, chair of the Nova Scotia School Board Council of Unions, said the union has been telling employers for 10 months what it takes to keep schools running. He said the problems are known but the union is still waiting for them to be taken seriously at the bargaining table.¹

We are running out of time to reach agreements that protect the quality of public education in Nova Scotia.¹Nelson Scott, chair of the Nova Scotia School Board Council of Unions

The union said the consequences would be felt in school communities across the province. Many schools could be forced to close, and schools that remain open could face cancelled bus routes, suspended pre-primary programs, reduced student supports, deteriorating cleanliness and mounting maintenance problems.¹

Scott said parents and children see every day what happens when resources fall short of standards: classrooms get dirty, students go without the supports they need, the learning environment is disrupted, and some children do not make it to class because their bus run has been cancelled.¹

Scott said school support workers do not want to disrupt students' education or families' lives. He said nobody wants a strike, but workers cannot keep accepting conditions that undermine the services students depend on, and that the problems being negotiated are already affecting families.¹

Every student deserves a good school, and every school support worker deserves good working conditions. Those two things go hand in hand.¹Nelson Scott, chair of the Nova Scotia School Board Council of Unions

The union asked families to stand with workers and tell school administrators that good schools for all must be the priority. Scott said there are still 10 days to avoid a potential strike and that employers need to use them.¹