The Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) has filed a complaint of bad-faith bargaining against the provincial government as both parties negotiate a new union contract.
According to an NSTU memo obtained by Global News, at negotiations on Jan. 6, the government made a brand new, recent proposal to have speech-language pathologists, school psychologists and social workers removed from the NSTU bargaining unit.
“Government indicated that it refuses to address any other issues unless the NSTU agrees to remove these members from our bargaining unit,” the memo from NSTU president Paul Wozney states.
The NSTU says it filed the complaint with the labour board as a result of that decision.
“The NSTU is concerned that collective bargaining talks, that thus far have been collegial and productive, are now being hijacked for political reasons after Arbitrator (Eric) Slone’s definitive decision in favour of specialists,” Wozney writes.
A decision from Slone from November found that teaching specialists must be included in the NSTU’s professional agreement.
In the ruling, Slone found the provincial government breached the NSTU’s professional agreement when it decided to no longer require employed specialists to obtain special teaching certificates.
The union claims that the education department has “completely ignored” Slone’s ruling, as some 12-month specialists have been told they will continue under the same working conditions.
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The union also says specialists were “being refused application materials when they contacted the Office of Teacher Certification to apply for special certificates.”
An emergency meeting was later held between Slone, the NSTU and government, where Slone ordered the education department to take “immediate action” on his ruling.
Proposal was brought forward ‘in good faith’: justice department
In a statement to Global News, the Department of Justice said it is just learning about the filing to the labour board, adding that the proposal was brought forward “in good faith, hoping the NSTU would negotiate a solution.”
“We’ve been clear about our position on specialists in schools,” reads the statement from Labour Relations Minister Mark Furey. “We believe it is in the best interest of students and their families to guarantee that these services be available to them year-round, not just during the school year or school day.
“We continue to advance that position through every available avenue.”
Furey added that the department hopes to find a mutually agreeable solution to this issue at the bargaining table.
Bargaining process so far has been ‘collegial,’ Wozney says
In a phone interview with Global News Wednesday, Wozney said up until the government’s proposal was introduced, the joint bargaining process – which began over the summer – had been “collegial and productive.”
“We’ve done a lot of good things so far,” Wozney said. “A lot of people thought this would be a mess, a big fight, and frankly I gave credit to both the government and the union side about the good work we’ve been able to do.
“This is probably the most productive and responsive we’ve been able to be in bargaining in living memory.”
But Wozney now feels government is hoping negotiations reach a breakdown and “grind to a complete halt.”
“To us it very much feels like the government is trying to concoct a complete breakdown in bargaining where none exists,” said Wozney. “The law says it’s not legal for either side in a collective bargaining process to intentionally behave in such a way to bring about an interruption of service.”
Wozney hopes a labour board ruling will help protect the larger process of collective bargaining.
“We want to safeguard the larger process. There’s no need for the negotiations that are happening to go off the rails,” Wozney said.
The NSTU is also in the process of registering Slone’s award as a court order with the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. The government has said it intends to seek a judicial review of the award, which would also require a stay of the award.
A judge deferred the matter due to the amount of needed to hear the substance of the request.
With files from Sarah Ritchie.
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