{"id":90676,"date":"2017-02-21T22:20:27","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T03:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=90676"},"modified":"2017-02-21T22:20:27","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T03:20:27","slug":"n-s-liberals-use-majority-to-pass-legislation-ending-teachers-contract-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/02\/21\/n-s-liberals-use-majority-to-pass-legislation-ending-teachers-contract-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"N.S. Liberals use majority to pass legislation ending teachers’ contract dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u201cTeaching<\/a>
\u201cTeaching is not easy,\u201d Education Minister Karen Casey told the house as she moved passage of the final reading of the legislation late Tuesday afternoon following a lengthy session that began at 12:01 a.m. (Photo: Nova Scotia Government\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HALIFAX\u2014With shouts of \u201c<\/strong>Shame\u201d<\/strong> cascading from the public gallery, Nova Scotia’s Liberal government passed a contentious bill Tuesday ending a 16-month contract dispute with the province’s 9,300 public school teachers.<\/p>\n

The Liberals used their majority to ram through Bill 75, which also ended a work-to-rule job action that began Dec. 5.<\/p>\n

The vote was 33 to 17.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>Teaching is not easy,\u201d<\/strong> Education Minister Karen Casey told the house as she moved passage of the final reading of the legislation late Tuesday afternoon following a lengthy session that began at 12:01 a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>Challenges in the classroom are very real,\u201d<\/strong> said Casey. \u201c<\/strong>It is our responsibility as government to work with our teachers to ensure that our students remain a priority for both.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduced last Tuesday, Bill 75 became law after a series of around-the-clock sittings, usually accompanied by the sounds of teachers and their supporters banging drums, blowing whistles and chanting outside Province House.<\/p>\n

Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Premier Stephen McNeil said the law was needed to return classrooms to normal by ending the teachers’ work-to-rule job action.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>We were hoping to get an agreement at the bargaining table, as I’ve said so many times,\u201d<\/strong> said McNeil. \u201c<\/strong>There is no question it (work-to-rule) has had an impact on students … we had to move so this contract would be in place and work-to-rule would end.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teachers held a one-day strike Friday in protest of legislation they say doesn’t provide the help they need in the classroom. It was the first time in the union’s 122-year history that members had walked off the job.<\/p>\n

The new law imposes a four-year contract that contains a three per cent salary increase and incorporates many elements included in the first two tentative agreements rejected by union members. A third tentative agreement was also rejected earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union president Liette Doucet said she was proud of how her membership had stood up for its rights and advocated for better classrooms.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>They believe through this action that they have had their voices heard and their voices have been heard right across the province,\u201d<\/strong> Doucet said. \u201c<\/strong>They hope that the citizens of this province realize that we have a broken system and that something needs to be done and pressure needs to remain on the government to make those changes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

McNeil said after the vote that the government will now focus on a promised committee for classroom improvement, which will get $20 million over two years and make recommendations to improve working conditions.<\/p>\n

The bill was passed with a minor amendment that will bring in an arbitrator to settle disputes between members of the committee, comprised of four government representatives, one union co-chair and nine classroom teachers selected by school board superintendents.<\/p>\n

Under the last deal rejected by union members, the provision would have allowed the arbitrator to rule on issues worth up to $250,000 a year. Liberal house leader Michel Samson said the government was doubling the amount to $500,000, and that any member of the 14-member council would now be allowed to trigger the arbitration process.<\/p>\n

The NSTU has said the council’s composition doesn’t give it enough say, and Doucet said the union would look at appointing members to the committee.<\/p>\n

She also said teachers would not be forced by the union to do extra activities like coaching outside school hours that aren’t covered by the contract.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>Those are the things that teachers actually love doing with their students,\u201d<\/strong> Doucet said. \u201c<\/strong>If teachers make decisions not to do those things _ those will be very hard decisions for our teachers.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under questioning in the legislature, McNeil revealed the government saved about $3.4 million in the one-day strike. He said the money would be used for student grants across the province.<\/p>\n

Opposition Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie asked McNeil whether the province was setting aside funds for a court challenge the union has vowed to launch.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>By his reckless actions, the premier has committed the taxpayers of Nova Scotia to years of legal challenges and millions of dollars in legal costs,\u201d<\/strong> Baillie said.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that prior challenges in British Columbia and Ontario had resulted in successful lawsuits.<\/p>\n

However, McNeil expressed confidence the bill would withstand a legal challenge by the union.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>We had three different agreements with two different executives of the teachers’ union,\u201d<\/strong> he said. \u201c<\/strong>Each and every time we went to the table … we changed the agreement providing more support.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>I think even the lawyer representing the teachers’ union said this piece of legislation will stand the test.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

NDP Leader Gary Burrill said the only thing that can end the mistrust between the sides is \u201c<\/strong>with the new broom that we’ll have in an election.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

As he left the legislature Tuesday, McNeil’s vehicle was held up by protesting teachers carrying placards for about four minutes before it could squeeze through the gates and onto a downtown Halifax street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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