Nova Scotia Teachers Union members will decide today whether to give their union the mandate to go on strike.
“I want teachers to remain in the classroom with your children, but I will respect the choice they make,” Premier Stephen McNeil said in a video posted on YouTube Sunday.
He went on to say, among other things, that the government has provided a wage increase in the package and that no one will lose benefits.
“Our members have seen the video and they agree that they have heard all of those points before,” Liette Doucet, president of the union, said Monday. “It doesn’t change how they’re feeling about the vote.”
That resolve is expected to result in a mandate to go on strike, she added.
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Members say clerical work demands are one of several issues.
“It’s taking a lot of time, it’s taking a lot of energy and it’s taking away time that teachers need to prepare for their students,” Doucet said.
Members can vote between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
“There is a timeline,” Doucet added. “I think the earliest that we could take job action is Dec. 2 and we are required to give 48-hours notice of any kind of job action.”