NSGEU President Sandra Mullen speaks to a striking working in Chester. Photo courtesy NSGEU

School support workers are a week into their strike with no end in sight.

The members of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) Local 70 and 73 representing the South Shore and Annapolis Valley are striking to demand equal pay with their counterparts across the province.

NSGEU president Sandra Mullen says the pay scale for every other civil servant in Nova Scotia is the same regardless of where they live, and school workers should be no different.

“The wage for a nurse is the same no matter where they work and the MLAs. The base salary for an MLA is the same across this province whether they are in Metro, Sydney or Yarmouth or in between, it’s the same,” said Mullen.

Striking union members were in the Nova Scotia Legislature on Tuesday to allow MLAs to put a face on the workers on the picket line.

On the floor, NDP MLA Kendra Coombes asked Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Becky Druhan why someone working in the minister’s own riding shouldn’t be paid the same as someone from the city.

The minister replied her government supports parity for all workers across the province, but her department is not directly involved in negotiations.

“There seems to be a misconception across the table as to who exactly is party to the collective agreements that we have in place in education,” said Druhan. “I’d like to remind the members that the parties to our agreements in education are the Regions or the CSAP and the unions. Those are the parties who bargain these deals, those are the parties who are negotiating.”

Mullen isn’t buying it.

She says under the previous school board structure each board would set their own budget and work within it when bargaining wages.

Mullen says since the previous Liberal government under Stephen McNeil abolished the school boards and created the Regional Centres for Education, the money is funnelled from the department so there’s no reason not to set provincial standards for wages.

“So, I believe they’re just throwing it back on the Regional Centre for Education as the employer. Perhaps they are the employer but there’s no doubt in my mind that the decisions they make come from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Learning [Development],” said Mullen. “That is how we have seen pre-primary programs put in every school is because its provincial it’s the same. So, if we’re going to offer the same curriculum, the same programs in all of those schools, support, outreach programs, all of those things, there’s no reason why they can’t be paid the same.”

A conciliator has invited the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education and NSGEU Local 73 back to the table for a meeting Friday.

No word yet on when the South Shore Regional Centre for Education and its union will return to negotiations.

Meanwhile, striking workers are resolved to stay out of schools and walking picket lines until they get equal pay for equal work.

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Lawn signs welcome the lifting of mask mandates in school. Photo Ed Halverson

Reaction is mixed as students won’t be required to wear masks in school for the first time when they return to class after the Victoria Day long weekend.

Masks have been mandatory in most indoor public places across Nova Scotia since July 31, 2020.

When the restrictions are lifted May 24 the province will be the last in Canada to remove mask mandates in schools.

When announcing the policy change Friday, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Becky Druhan said masks will continue to be recommended and anyone who chooses to wear a mask will be supported.

In a release, Druhan said, “Masks helped schools mitigate the impact of COVID-19’s sixth wave. But as warmer weather approaches in June and classes can spend more time outdoors, and with Nova Scotia’s health data and school attendance data improving, now is the time to make masks optional in schools.”

In response to the announcement Doctors Nova Scotia tweeted out, “While the school mask mandate is being lifted beginning May 24, masks are still recommended in indoor spaces.”

Minister Druhan echoed the sentiment.

In her statement Druhan said, “We strongly encourage students and staff to continue to wear masks, and we will continue to support staff and students as well as continue to supply masks and hand sanitizer.”

In an interview with CBC, the chief of paediatrics at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Dr. Andrew Lynk warned that his facility is already stretched to its limits.

Lynk went on to say paediatricians across the province had hoped masking in schools would remain in place until the end of the school year on June 30 to prevent a rise in the number of children coming to hospital with COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.

The weekly COVID update released by the province May 19 shows the number of new cases and hospitalizations continues to decline.

However, 24 people died as a result of COVID for the seven-day period ending May 16; 22 were aged 70 or older and nine lived in long-term care homes.

In an email to the school community Regional Executive Director of South Shore Regional Centre for Education Paul Ash said students, staff and visitors are encouraged to continue following core public health measures, including vaccinations, staying home if feeling unwell, following the COVID-19 daily checklist, and washing and sanitizing hands frequently.

Ash says while masks are no longer required, schools will continue to make them available to anyone who wishes.

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

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