CUPE Nova Scotia

CUPE releases position paper supporting play-based learning taught by early childhood educators

May 14, 2019November 30, 2017

On November 29, 2017, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) submitted a position paper, Early Childhood Education and Nova Scotia’s Pre-primary Program, to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The union is offering recommendations to the provincial government for the implementation of a truly universal program, so that it is successful for all children, families, and educators. “To make early learning and care a real success in Nova Scotia more needs to happen – immediately,” says Mary Jessome, CUPE School Board Council of Unions Chair. “We hope the Minister will give our submission careful consideration.” “While others have tried to politicize the care of young children, CUPE says you should consider this: right now our pre-primary ratios, specialized training, and classroom staffing structure in our schools, is a model that is doing well according to the most current research in Canada, in terms of design, if not … Read more…

Member update on health care bargaining – November 28, 2017

November 28, 2017November 28, 2017

The Nova Scotia Council of Health Care Unions, NSHA and IWK have completed three days of conciliation and plan to meet again in January for another five days. The last three days provided good discussion and some important progress towards a new collective agreement. However, a lot of work remains. The parties have held 27 bargaining dates in total now, as they work to conclude a very complex set of negotiations that require bringing together collective agreements from all four unions (CUPE, NSGEU, Unifor and NSNU) in the acute care and community care sectors. This was made necessary when the provincial Liberal government created a single provincial health authority. Despite the progress, a number of very significant items remain outstanding including job posting, job security, sick leave, group benefits, retiree benefits, vacation scheduling, leaves, overtime, hours of work and more. This remains a long and challenging process but the Council of Health … Read more…