Members of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union have voted 98 per cent in favour of a strike mandate, in a move the union calls “a resounding wake-up call to government.”
The vote result does not trigger an immediate strike, and classes will resume as scheduled Friday. Conciliation talks are scheduled to resume next Monday and Tuesday.
“Teachers are frustrated by rapidly declining conditions inside their schools, and by Government’s lack of action to provide safe and healthy learning environments for students,” said NSTU president Ryan Lutes in a news release Thursday night.
NSTU represents more than 10,000 educators, who have been without a contract since Aug. 1, 2023.
Negotiations have been ongoing since last June, however the union says there has been a lack of progress on three main issues: school violence, teacher retention and a lack of substitute teachers.
Lutes said teacher pay is also a priority, and that teachers want a competitive salary that keeps up with inflation.
“I think it’s reasonable, especially in a teacher shortage where we need to attract people to the profession,” he said earlier in the day.
According to the federal government’s most recent labour market survey, the median hourly wage for a Canadian secondary school teacher is $45.30, while the corresponding hourly wage in Nova Scotia is $41.76.
A recent poll of members found 84 per cent of them have thought about leaving the profession.
In that survey, 42 per cent considered quitting specifically due to school violence and more than half felt they didn’t get enough support or respect from their employer.
The province’s education minister, Becky Druhan, told Global News on Wednesday that she was optimistic about the bargaining process.
“Personally, if it were me, I would want to know the terms of any offer before I voted on a strike,” she said in response to an NSTU rally held Wednesday and the impending strike vote.
“I really believe in the bargaining process and I respect the bargaining process. I’m really hopeful the ongoing dates will result in a negotiated agreement.”
In a letter sent to parents and guardians Thursday, Druhan wrote she was aware that the strike vote “may raise questions and concerns around how this will affect your family.”
“Students and families deserve an uninterrupted school year, fully engaged in learning and all the other positive experiences they have at school. I believe that teachers want to be in classrooms as well,” the letter stated.
“I believe the path to improving our education system is in listening to staff who are on the ground and working with students every day. That is why I’ve joined more than 80 school staff meetings, speaking to thousands of teachers and other staff to hear and act on their insight.”
The union went on strike for the first time in its 125-year history in February 2017, when it held a one-day walkout in the midst of a contract dispute with the former Liberal government.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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