Attempt to avert potential N.S. teachers strike falls apart over ‘preconditions’
HALIFAX — An attempt to avert a potential teachers strike in Nova Scotia hit a dead end after the government and union couldn’t agree on terms for conciliation by the Tuesday deadline.
The conciliation request came from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union last week as a means of kick-starting negotiations ahead of an early December strike deadline, but the Liberal government asked for clarification on what would be brought to the negotiating table.
A subsequent exchange of letters resulted in the union saying no to four conditions laid out by Education Minister Karen Casey. As part of those conditions, Casey told the union the government would discuss salary, but only if the sides could identify corresponding savings to offset any salary increases.
“We will not accept any preconditions to a conciliation board because we believe in free and full collective bargaining,” union president Liette Doucet said in a statement.