Striking school support workers in Annapolis Valley reach tentative agreement

The union representing striking school support workers and the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education (AVRCE) have reached a tentative agreement.

More than 600 workers who are part of Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) Local 73 have been on strike since Oct. 24, seeking pay equity with other school districts or an improved compensation package.

Assistant early childhood educators are paid $22.40 an hour at the top of the wage grid in the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education, but the same position in the Halifax Regional Centre for Education pays $25.09.

Similarly, lead ECEs in the Annapolis Valley make $27.37 an hour at the top, while those in the Halifax area make $35.14.

In a news release late Sunday evening, the NSGEU announced that after two days of talks with a conciliator, a tentative agreement has been reached.

"It was not fair for folks to be paid differently just because of where they lived and worked so the whole issue here is about parity and getting the same pay for the same work," NSGEU president Sandra Mullen said early Monday. 

"I believe that the pressure put on government really brought [Local 73] to the table to achieve this matter."

Mullen said the bargaining committee for Local 73 will recommend acceptance of the agreement, but the offer must still be ratified in a vote by members, which will be held Tuesday.

"We felt that the improvements to the language in the deal answered to everything we had been looking for … and we look forward to presenting the information to our membership," she said.

Meanwhile, school support workers on the South Shore, who are represented by NSGEU Local 70, are still on strike, but Mullen says they are expected to return to the bargaining table Tuesday.

"We will hope for a similar outcome and again, it's about getting the information, before we can call off the striking workers," she said. 

"We want to get that information to them so that they can be present in the room and, you know, be informed on the agreement and vote on it there."

Schools in both centres have been open during the strikes, but some students who rely on support workers have been forced to stay home.