Hundreds of teachers, kids and concerned parents marched on five different Liberal MLA offices in the Halifax area Friday afternoon, the same day contract talks broke off with both sides failing to reach an agreement.
The Nova Scotia Teachers Union said in a release the government wasn’t willing to negotiate, and that job action is “likely” on Dec. 5.
“One thing would be to leave out service award alone, that would be a deal breaker for me,” said Craig Nelson a vice principal at Brookside Junior High School.
READ MORE: Teachers explain why they plan to vote no on latest contract offer
“Classroom size and composition is the main priority I think, in addition to supports to make inclusion run the way it should to ensure that the students are getting what they need,” said Grade 8 teacher Amanda Winsor, who said she voted against the last contract offer.
“It means appropriate staffing, so more EPAs, more guidance counsellors, more speech language pathologists, more school psychologists, severe learning disability coaches, it means more teachers in the classroom.”
Teachers organized rallies at the offices of Joanne Bernard, Ben Jessome, Tony Ince, Patricia Arab and Stephen Gough.
Jessome spoke directly with teachers outside his office in Hammonds Plains, saying he’s always been committed to helping improve classrooms.
“Nobody wants to see this come to a strike,” he said. “Everybody is on board with trying to make classrooms more efficient and effective to teach students.”
Until now, the government has held a firm line, saying it wouldn’t move on compensation and working conditions would not be added to the contract.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia warns parents to come up with a plan in case teachers strike
The union’s Halifax County local, which represents 2,200 of the provinces more than 9,000 teachers, organized the rallies.
WATCH: Class size, composition, and money among reasons for strike vote: Teachers