Thousands of parents in Nova Scotia are scrambling to find alternative arrangements for their school-aged children today as a labour dispute between the provincial government and the provincial teachers’ union has shut down all public schools in the Maritime province.
Teachers were being allowed into the schools, but students are being kept out after the provincial Liberals announced the closures Saturday.
Here I am in an empty classroom #ReadyToTeach #nspoli #nstunited @NSTeachersUnion #studentslockedout pic.twitter.com/OheHYrD5eC
— Adam Boyd (@BoydMath) 5 December 2016
The government of Nova Scotia said it was concerned about the children’s safety in schools after the teachers’ union announced work-to-rule pressure tactics in response to the government’s announcement that it plans to break the deadlock in contract negotiations by introducing back-to-work legislation and imposing a contract on the teachers.
Under work-to-rule conditions Nova Scotia’s 9,300 teachers will show up 20 minutes before the start of each school day, only do tasks related to classroom learning and leave 20 minutes after each day ends.
The arrival and departure edict also applies to teachers with administrative duties. Such a move means no more coaching, school trips or any extracurricular activities involving teachers.
Education Minister Karen Casey said supervising students for 20 minutes is not sufficient to keep students safe. Casey said that small supervision window would make the 400 schools unsafe. To protect students, the government decided to shut down the schools.
Casey said Sunday that schools could be closed for up to a week.
Nova Scotia Teachers Union president Liette Doucet said children would be safe in school, and teachers arriving 20 minutes before class and staying 20 minutes after would be enough time to safely supervise students.
Extra safety precautions in place. Even scaredy squirrel would feel safe here. #ReadyToTeach #NSTUnited pic.twitter.com/kn0bam6LHa
— Krista (@kristapruys) 5 December 2016
On Monday, the provincial government announced that is temporarily delaying the introduction of its controversial bill imposing a contract on public school teachers, and will look for an alternate solution in the dispute.
Minutes prior to a bill briefing in advance of the legislature sitting Monday, Liberal House leader Michel Samson told reporters the bill would be delayed to allow for hastily organized talks about safety concerns around student supervision during the teachers’ work-to-rule action.
“There are ongoing discussions to address the safety concerns that were identified. We will wait to see how those discussions unfold in the next number of hours,” said Samson. “Based on how those discussions go, we’ll determine whether we proceed or not.”
However, the NSTU denied that talks are taking place.
#NSTU is currently not “in talks” with Government. Teachers are in schools #ReadyToTeach #NSTUnited
— NS Teachers Union (@NSTeachersUnion) 5 December 2016
With files from CBC News and The Canadian Press
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