Ryan Lutes is the president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. (Nova Scotia Teachers Union YouTube channel)
The 10,000 members of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union have ratified a new contract with the province.
The deal was reached on April 26. Some 91 per cent of members voted on the contract on May 22. And 80.5 per cent voted to accept it.
“This agreement contains several important gains for teachers, and while it doesn’t address all the challenges our schools are facing, it is a fair agreement that serves as a solid stepping stone to future progress,” NSTU president Ryan Lutes said in a news release this week.
“This would not have been possible without the strength and solidarity members demonstrated when they provided the bargaining team with an overwhelming strike mandate earlier this spring.”
The agreement includes an 11.47 per cent salary increase over three years for full-time teachers. Substitute teachers will also get an extra 12 per cent raise and will require eight fewer days to qualify as a full-time teacher.
Teachers will also be getting more time for marking and preparation. Beginning Aug. 1, they will have a minimum of 15 per cent of instructional time for marking and classroom prep.
The number of school counsellors will also increase. And the Nova Scotia government has guaranteed that neither class sizes nor the school day will increase for the term of the contract.
The teachers’ previous contract expired last July 31. The salary increases are retroactive to Aug. 1 of last year.
Ryan Lutes did not reoffer as president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. (Nova Scotia Teachers Union YouTube channel)
The 10,000 members of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union are voting Wednesday to elect a new president.
NSTU presidents are elected to two-year terms. They can serve no more than two terms.
Ryan Lutes was elected president in 2022. He decided not to reoffer.
Five people are running to replace Lutes. They are Peter Day, who lost to Lutes in a runoff in 2022, Nancie de la Chevotière, Grant Frost, Shawn Hanifen and Mike Kelly.
Hanifen was also on the ballot in 2022.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The union said it would announce the results at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
To be elected president, a candidate must get more than 50 per cent of the votes. If a run-off vote is needed, it will be held May 29.
Premier Tim Houston speaks to reporters on Thursday about an agreement with Nova Scotia teachers. (Nova Scotia government Facebook page)
Nova Scotia will likely avoid a teachers’ strike as government and union negotiators reached an “agreement in principle” late Wednesday night.
The Nova Scotia Teachers Union entered conciliation talks with government negotiators on Monday and Tuesday with a 98 per cent strike mandate. More than 10,000 teachers and educational specialists voted last Thursday to go on strike if an agreement couldn’t be reached.
Teachers are concerned about rising levels of violence in schools, teacher recruitment and retention, and compensation for substitute and permanent teachers.
Premier Tim Houston joined the talks himself on Monday night.
Houston told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Thursday that he believes the agreement addresses many of the union’s concerns.
“I think it’s an agreement that teachers can be proud of,” he said.
“I did personally attend the bargaining table late on Monday evening and tried to make it clear at that point that we heard the voices of teachers and the NSTU and that this government shares their focus on students, student outcomes and classroom conditions. I think teachers will see significant investments in these areas in the agreement. It’s an agreement that responds to the call that students can’t wait. … Our government has great respect for teachers and our focus was on reaching a deal that was fair to teachers and ensured improved classroom conditions for students and teachers.”
Ryan Lutes, president of the teachers union, said in an interview Thursday that the premier’s presence at the bargaining table seemed to move things along.
“The premier was helpful,” Lutes said.
“Up until that point, I would say our negotiating team saw very little movement on the issues that mattered to teachers and students. The premier shared his commitment to improving classroom conditions, to improving work-life balance for teachers and his desire to invest in public schools, and I think that spurred his team along into eventually getting an agreement with teachers.”
So far, it’s only a verbal agreement. Lead negotiators for both sides are still hammering out the language. As soon as the union’s bargaining team sees and signs off on the document, they can call it a tentative agreement.
Lutes said it will likely take another week or two before teachers see something they can vote on. Details won’t be released until that happens.
“I don’t believe the premier would have spurred along his own negotiating team without the strong strike mandate. I think our members were really important. The message came through with the strong strike mandate that members aren’t going to accept an agreement that doesn’t move their priorities forward. And I think the premier heard that. He was able to pretty positively contribute to that discussion on Monday night.”
The premier said his government shares teachers’ concerns about classroom and working conditions.
“We knew the importance of the negotiations for sure. That was never diminished and that was never a second thought in our mind. So we’re really happy that we’ve been able to reach the agreement in principle. When it’s all said and done, this is an agreement that teachers can be proud of and I’m optimistic about the path forward from here.”
The government and NSTU have been negotiating since last June. Their last contract expired July 31, 2023.
A parents group wants masks to stay on in public schools.
Nova Scotia Parents for Public Schools, a Facebook group with close to 18,000 members is raising their concerns after the province’s chief medical officer for health Dr. Robert Strang announced students and staff would no longer be required to wear masks beginning September 20.
Co-chair Stacey Rudderham says the decision whether or not to wear a mask can’t be left up to students.
“Kids don’t know how to make personal choices that are always in their best interests.”
Rudderham says many of the parents in her group are worried ventilation issues at their schools still haven’t been addressed.
That combined with the decision to drop the masking requirement has shaken their faith in public health direction being put forward by the province.
“Last year we saw a lot of people saying that they trusted the situation was going to be fine and after the spring, we’re not seeing a lot of that in the group anymore,” said Rudderham.
Unlike Nova Scotia, many provinces are requiring teachers to either prove they have been fully vaccinated or undergo regular COVID testing.
The lack of proof isn’t an issue for Rudderham.
Despite having any hard numbers to confirm her speculation, she’s confident the majority of teachers have had their vaccines.
“We were very aware of last spring was that the NSTU (Nova Scotia Teachers Union) and the teachers were asking to prioritized; that they should be treated like healthcare workers and they wanted to be vaccinated,” said Rudderham. “They were very much stressed out about the amount of risk that they were facing.”
The Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education group is putting together a letter outlining their concerns to present to the newly appointed Minister of Education Becky Druhan.
Rudderham expects to send that letter off to the department within the week.
