Halifax Regional School Board sign

Union applies for conciliation in bargaining with the Halifax Regional School Board

The union representing support staff at the Halifax Regional School Board has applied for conciliation in contract negotiations that broke off on Wednesday, November 14, 2017. Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) National Representative Karen MacKenzie says the union hopes to meet with the conciliator as soon as possible since negotiations have dragged on for more than a year and a half. The union’s collective agreement expired on July 31, 2014. At this point, no further talks are scheduled. “We are not where we hoped to be,” says Chris Melanson, president of CUPE Local 5047. “We’ve had about a dozen face-to-face bargaining sessions and we feel that we have reached an impasse. We hope that the assistance of a conciliator will help to amicably reach an agreement.” “The Liberal government’s Bill 148, imposed on public sector workers in August, has impacted these negotiations,” says MacKenzie. “Since the bill was passed, … Read more…

Letter: Childhood educators in peril

The following letter was sent to Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Zach Churchill by Michelle Lohnes on behalf of early childhood educators, members of CUPE 4745. The later was also published in the Chronicle Herald on November 11, 2017.  Over the last few days, we have noticed that the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has provided surveys to be completed by child-care centre directors, board members and parents, to gather information about the impact of pre-primary programs that began in September. The implementation of the pre-primary program has had a huge, negative impact on early childhood educators working in child-care centres across the province. Many of us are concerned about our future employment due to underfunding and the decline of enrolment in child-care centres. Our sector was already experiencing a recruitment and retention problem and these new programs have made a difficult situation even more challenging. The … Read more…

Submission to the Pension Funding Framework Review and other issues affecting pension plans

The following submission to the province, entitled “Pension Funding Framework Review and other issues affecting pension plans”, was made by CUPE NS President Nan McFadgen and the CUPE NS Pension Committee on November 10, 2017. CUPE Nova Scotia is disappointed that the Pension Funding Framework Review discussion paper fails to address the top concerns of the members and beneficiaries of DB pension plans; ensuring the pension promise is delivered and benefits are protected. The discussion paper appears driven by employer concerns to reduce their pension commitments as all of the “options” proposed shift the pension plan risk away from employers and on to pension plan members and retirees. This is not a balanced or fair approach to crafting Nova Scotia’s public policy for DB pension plans. CUPE is strongly opposed to the proposal to allow the retroactive conversion of DB pension plans to TB pension plans. This would destroy the long-held … Read more…