N.S. school support staff union files strike notice

More than 5,000 school support staff will be hitting the picket lines on Monday if a deal between CUPE and the employer doesn't materialize over the weekend. The union represents educational program assistants, early childhood educators, custodians, bus drivers, and many others within the public school system. The union is demanding a wage increase of $3.50 per hour for all members over four years. It says after a marathon bargaining session, they were offered an increase of $2.22 for the lowest earner. The Minister of Labour Relations is asking CUPE to come back to the table and propose a counter-offer. He says the current offer would give some workers the equivalent of $60,000 annually. We're very near our limit on this, I would say, if not at our limit in terms of what we can do in a monetary. Premier Tim Houston took to social media, urging the union to show flexibility and give workers an opportunity to vote on the proposed deal. CUPE has said it will remain firm in its wage demands because many of their members work two to three jobs to keep up with the cost of living. A union official says their ask would bring the lowest paid member up to $24 per hour by the end of the decade. In 2023, Halifax school support staff were off the job for five weeks. The strike left many students with disabilities shut out of school. Asking people with additional Barriers to disproportionately bear the weight of this is not only unfair, it's unjust. We understand there's going to be impact and we're going to do the best we can, whether it's at home or virtual learning. I know it's not the same, but we're going to do the best we can to try to mitigate the disruption in their lives. The local CUPE unions represent different employees in different regions, so the impacts of a strike would vary across the province. Schools say they've been putting plans in place and are communicating directly with families. Selina Alders, CBC News, Halifax.