The Nova Scotia School Board Council of Unions (NSSBCU) is rallying behind CUPE Local 5047 and calling on the government to resume negotiations with Halifax-area school support staff.

A tentative agreement, reached in April, was rejected solely by the Halifax-area local, as it failed to meet their needs.

Lisa DeMolitor, Vice-Chair of NSSBCU, stated that school support workers province-wide stand in solidarity with CUPE members in their pursuit of improved conditions.

“Government has been saying that they’ve addressed all of the requests we made at the bargaining table, and that’s simply not true,” said deMolitor. “There is still a lot of ground that needs to be made up, especially for our members in the Halifax area. If government doesn’t come up with the funds needed to settle this contract, they’re going to find themselves with a staffing crisis in September, because members are telling us that they’ll have no choice but to find work elsewhere that pays a living wage.”

The NSSBCU urges the government to address the outstanding issues promptly to avert potential repercussions.