SSRCE School Bus. Photo Ed Halverson

School support workers in the South Shore will vote today on a deal to end their nearly two- week long strike.

The tentative agreement was reached between South Shore Regional Centre of Education and Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union bargaining teams Tuesday with the help of a conciliator.

The union’s bargaining committee is recommending members accept the agreement when they vote on the deal later today.

If the agreement is ratified the workers could be off the picket lines and back into schools Thursday.

The proposed deal comes the same day union members from the Annapolis Valley voted by 92.3 per cent to accept their new tentative agreement.

According to a release from the NSGEU, Annapolis Valley School Support workers will be leveled up to the highest rates of pay for their positions in Nova Scotia during the life of this collective agreement, which extends from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024.

Getting wage parity for workers in the same jobs across Nova Scotia was the goal of walkouts held in the Valley and South Shore in the past two weeks.

NSGEU President Sandra Mullen was pleased the provincial government let the bargaining process play out.

“After more than a decade of living with the austerity legacy of past-Premier Stephen McNeil, we are finally able to see that the collective bargaining process works, when it is allowed to do so,” said President Mullen, “The current government not only allowed the bargaining process to unfold as it should – without legislative interference tipping the scales – but they have agreed to the principle of parity and fairness for these workers, and that is something that should be credited.”

No details of the proposed agreement between the South Shore Regional Centre for Education and its workers will be released until the membership has the opportunity to see and vote on the deal today.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Striking workers walk a picket line in Liverpool. Photo Susan MacLeod

Striking school workers could be back on the job by Thursday.

After two days of bargaining a deal was reached between representatives of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) and the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education.

The union is recommending members take the offer but are not releasing details of the tentative agreement until workers see it first at their meeting tonight.

Workers from two school districts, the Annapolis Valley and South Shore have been on strike for over a week demanding workers doing the same job are paid the same wage regardless of where they live in the province.

NSGEU President Sandra Mullen says union members have done a good job bringing Nova Scotians to their side by explaining they’re looking for basic fairness.

In fact, when walking the line in Liverpool she spoke with five teenage boys who saw first-hand how school life is impacted by the workers absence.

“I said do you miss these folks being in the school and they said Oh my God, we’re on the line with these guys this is great, and yes we miss you because they don’t know how to do anything. They’re messing up the buzzers and they’re messing up. So, when you have five teenage boys missing the folks that support them in that school they know that these people are who support the students every day and so I mark that as pretty clear that folks know what’s going on and what it’s about,” said Mullen.

Representatives for workers and the South Shore Regional Centre for Education will return to the bargaining table today.

Because the strike from both unions was about getting wage parity across the province, it is safe to assume negotiators representing NSGEU Local 70 will be looking for the same deal the valley workers are voting on this evening.

If bargaining goes well, and members can arrange a vote, school support workers from both regions could be back on the job ahead of Remembrance Day, Friday.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.