Halifax-area school support staff returning to jobs after accepting tentative deal
CTV
About 1,800 striking educational support workers in the Halifax area have voted in favour of a deal with the province and are heading back to their jobs on Monday.
About 1,800 striking educational support workers in the Halifax area have voted in favour of a deal with the province and are heading back to their jobs on Monday.
The early childhood educators, educational programming assistants, bus drivers, cleaners, Indigenous and African Nova Scotian student support workers, and other support staff went on strike May 10 after rejecting a wage increase of 6.5 per cent over three years -- a deal which members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees local accepted in areas outside Halifax.
The Halifax Regional Centre for Education announced today the striking workers had voted in favour of the tentative agreement on Saturday.
The employer noted that the return of the educational program assistants meant that children they work with, including those with disabilities, will also be able to return to school on Monday.
The union says the new deal doesn't include wage increases higher than what other regions accepted, but there are improvements to retroactive pay and improved provisions on health and safety. Casual workers are also now part of the bargaining unit.
The province's Progressive Conservative government had repeatedly stated that it couldn't break with the pattern of wage increases from one region to another.
The Halifax members of the union had a high public profile during the strike, at one point staging a walk of over 1,000 of its members across the MacDonald Bridge between Halifax and Dartmouth.
London fire crews and police are on scene of a house fire in east London. Crews were called to the 1800 block of Culver Drive, east of Third Street and south of Oxford Street, around 11:30 a.m.
A teen who pleaded guilty in the death of 17-year-old Tyson MacDonald on Prince Edward Island last year has been sentenced to two years in custody.
An additional 160,000 students in Ontario will get access to free meals, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced at a Brampton, Ont. school Friday.
The Liberal government is pulling out the federal wallet to put more money into people's pockets over the holidays, but its recently announced affordability measures create winners and losers.
A jury has found two men guilty on human smuggling charges in a case where a family from India froze to death in Manitoba while trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border.
Calgary is under a snowfall warning with total amounts of 15 to 25 centimetres expected.
Pat King, one of the most prominent figures of the 2022 'Freedom Convoy' in Ottawa, has been found guilty on five counts including mischief and disobeying a court order.
An 81-year-old was killed in a dog attack this week in Bonfield, Ont. Police believe three dogs were involved.
An 81-year-old Quebec man has been sentenced to prison after admitting to killing his wife with Alzheimer's disease.
Another windstorm is headed to B.C.’s South Coast Friday, though Environment Canada says it will be weaker than the bomb cyclone event earlier this week.
A teen who pleaded guilty in the death of another teen on Prince Edward Island last year will be sentenced Friday.