#nstu

[allthecanadianpolitics]

NSTU president expecting teachers will vote yes to strike action Tuesday

The union is taking the action in response to the provincial government’s decision to accept the 22 recommendations of the Avis Glaze report on the education system.

Tuesday is decision day for the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, as members take part in an online strike vote.

Voting will go on all day, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Union president Liette Doucet expects the majority of members will vote in favour of a strike.

“I’ve been hearing from teachers across the province (that) they’re willing to vote yes to a strike,” Doucet said Monday.

“They want the message to be that they do not want a strike, however, that they are willing to vote for a strike because they are not going to sit back and watch this government destroy the education system as it did to health care.”

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[allthecanadianpolitics]

The Nova Scotia Teachers Union is filing a Charter Challenge against Stephen McNeil’s Nova Scotia Liberals for imposing a contract on teachers through Bill 75.

It should also be pointed out that Nova Scotia is in the middle of an election right now (May 30th is election day). McNeil is running again for Premier.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

THIS IS HISTORIC.

At this time (after 11pm on Thursday night), thousands of teachers have converged on Nova Scotia's Legislature in the beginning of an historic teachers' strike in Nova Scotia.

Members of the Nova Scotia Teachers' Union from across the province have arrived in Halifax and have converged outside the Legislature to picket Province House, which has convened a sitting that will last overnight and is projected to continue a marathon sitting until at least 5pm tomorrow.

The gallery of the Legislature is now completely full (or, more accurately: every available pass to the Gallery of the Legislature allowed by the Speaker of the Legislature is now in use... the Speaker is limiting the number of people allowed into the Legislature overnight). Gallery passes may be available at different points overnight as people take shifts or go outside to join the thousands who are now surrounding the Legislature.

THIS IS HISTORIC.

AT THIS TIME it appears that at least several hundred teachers will continue to picket and rally outside the Legislature OVERNIGHT while the Stephen McNeil Liberal government attempts to use their majority in the Legislature to ram through Bill 75 attacking both Nova Scotia's teachers as well as fundamental Collective Bargaining rights.

PICKETS AND RALLIES WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE DAY TOMORROW (FRIDAY)!

Members of the Nova Scotia Teachers' Union (NSTU) across the province have now begun a FULL PROVINCE-WIDE STRIKE.

Nova Scotia Teachers' Union members will be continuing to make their way from across the province into Metro Halifax to attend a day-long rally/picket in front of the Legislature all day tomorrow (Friday). All schools will be fully shut. We are asking union members to come to the Legislature to join the teachers at any time possible throughout the day tomorrow (Friday) — even coming down for an hour over lunch or after work would show great support for the teachers.

There will be a MASS RALLY outside the Legislature from NOON tomorrow (Friday) until at least 3pm.

We expect this to be one of the largest mass demonstrations in Nova Scotia's history.

The attack on Nova Scotia's teachers is an attack on the entire labour movement.

If Stephen McNeil can and will impose a contract on the teachers that they will not democratically ratify in a vote, they will not hesitate to do the same for any worker.

Let's stand up this week and be clear that we will not accept this attack on Charter-protected union rights.

Join us at the Legislature OVERNIGHT TONIGHT and THROUGHOUT THE DAY TOMORROW (FRIDAY), and especially from NOON TO 3pm for the MASS RALLY TO SUPPORT THE TEACHERS!

[allthecanadianpolitics]

NDP Caucus prepares to oppose Bill 75 during another all-night sitting | Nova Scotia NDP

Bill 75 is another version of the McNeil Liberals’ constant message that our children are not as important as balancing the budget. Our NDP Caucus has a different view.

NDP Leader Gary Burrill made the following statement regarding tonight’s sitting of the Legislature:

Bill 75 is another version of the McNeil Liberals’ constant message that our children are not as important as balancing the budget. Our NDP Caucus has a different view.

We know we can unleash the army of specialists, education assistants and teachers that is needed to address the crisis in our classrooms. We can bring in the class-size caps that will give our teachers and our students a fighting chance. And we can do this the same way that in our households we get a car, a roof, or an education: by investing in order to put ourselves in a better position in the future.

The McNeil Liberals say we can’t. Not true. We can.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

N.S. Liberals use majority to pass legislation ending teachers' contract dispute

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.

With shouts of "Shame" 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.

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

The vote was 33 to 17.

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[allthecanadianpolitics]

Thousands of Nova Scotia teachers to rally outside province house, protesting Bill 75

Thousands of teachers are expected to rally outside the Nova Scotia legislature throughout the day Friday, protesting the government’s legislated contract, Bill 75.

Teachers gathered through the night Thursday and early Friday morning, with hundreds marching around Province House with signs and spirit, making their presence known to MLAs debating inside.

All of the province’s teachers are staging Nova Scotia’s first ever full strike Friday, a one-day job action meant to “show with a force of strength that they’re sick and tired of this government pushing them around,” according to Nova Scotia Teachers Union president Liette Doucet.

Teachers have been demonstrating in shifts starting at 7 p.m. Thursday evening.

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[allthecanadianpolitics]

Nova Scotia teachers to strike for one day on Friday

Teachers' walkout in response to legislation to impose contract

Nova Scotia teachers will walk off the job Friday, for a one-day strike, in protest of Liberal government legislation to impose a contract on them.

The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union said it's the first time teachers have gone out on strike in the 122-year history of the union.

"Our members have never faced a more anti-education premier than Stephen McNeil," Liette Doucet said Wednesday morning in a statement.

The legislation being debated this week limits teachers' right to strike, erodes their ability to negotiate a contract and prevents them from advocating for education reforms, she said.

"We believe this legislation is unconstitutional," Doucet added.

Continue Reading.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

[Nova Scotia] MLAs begin late-night final reading of bill to impose contract on teachers

CBC's Jean Laroche provides live updates throughout the night as the bill is debated in the legislature.

Nova Scotia MLAs will return to the legislature for a third and final reading of the controversial Bill 75 starting at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Debate is expected to go all night and into the day as the House sits following the long weekend.

On Friday, teachers held a one-day strike and thousands held a protest outside Province House to oppose the bill. The bill will impose a contract on Nova Scotia Teachers Union members, who have rejected three tentative agreements in the past 15 months.

Watch livestream of Bill 75 debate via Legislature TV

The president of the union has said teachers feel betrayed by Stephen McNeil's Liberal government.

"This bill takes away our right to a fair collective bargaining process and erodes our ability to advocate for much needed reforms in our classrooms," Liette Doucet said in a statement Monday.

​McNeil said the purpose of the legislation is to end a work-to-rule campaign that the province's 9,300 teachers have been participating in since the first week of December.

MLAs were in the legislature almost around the clock last week debating the bill.

Teachers and supporters are planning to protest outside Province House between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. to show their opposition to the bill.