New Brunswick’s Finance Minister says talks are ongoing to reach a contract with the province’s teachers.

Ernie Steeves says the two sides are continuing to meet, “Last weekend, the conciliation team met. I had a staff member said she was emailed at 1:33 am, and they were still meeting.  Then I got another email and call at midnight .”

On May 20, the New Brunswick Teachers Federation stated the government has 100 days to reach a tentative agreement or a strike vote will be held.

“There are more talks coming up before the end of June. And we’re hoping for a really positive end of the story,” Steeves adds.

The NBTF launched a lemon-themed awareness campaign on April 11 to support teachers in leading this conversation to ask the government to Stop the Squeeze on public education.

Teacher retention and recruitment are two of the main issues in the campaign.

Their last collective agreement expired in 2021.