HALIFAX – The teachers union says the province hasn’t responded to it’s request to return to the bargaining table, but Premier Stephen McNeil is suggesting his government won’t.
On Wednesday, McNeil told reporters the government won’t budge on the financial side of the tentative agreement the teachers rejected last week. He said the request to talk about workplace conditions can be dealt with outside of contract negotiations.
However, McNeil wouldn’t explicitly answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when asked if his government would return to the bargaining table.
Last week he said he would like to have the tentative agreement ratified before the house rises, however, now he says there’s no hard deadline. “The sooner that we can get the contract dealt with the better off we’ll all be.”
“If they have issues that they believe can be solved with working conditions, tell us what they are. We’ve not seen anything,” McNeil said. “Many of these are not collective bargaining issues.”
McNeil mum on when House will rise
No announcement has been made on when the fall sitting will end. When asked on Wednesday, McNeil said he didn’t know yet.
“When we find out everything we need in this session has been presented and in then that will be when the session will end,” he said.
Earlier in the week, Province House scuttlebutt had bets placed as Friday but that could now be pushed into next week because the NDP wants it’s concerns around Bill 112 on the record.
Another fly in the ointment is whether or not the province will introduce legislation forcing a contract on the teachers union. McNeil said if circumstances change, he hasn’t ruled out forcing the house to sit between Christmas and New Year’s.
He said he would sit over the holidays if he thought the province’s fiscal plan was going off the rails.
“If I felt there was an ability for someone to put our fiscal plan in jeopardy then I would have to act,” McNeil said.
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