The union that represents early childhood educators (ECE’s) is calling on the province again, demanding it pays their members wages owed.

In an interview with our newsroom, Monday, Mary-Dan Johnston said it stems from two bilateral agreements with the province and federal government in 2024 and 2025 for wage increases.

Both have been applied but only one has been paid out.

“So, that means that early childhood educators across the province are owed more than $1,000 each by the province that still has not been remitted to them,” says Johnston.

According to Johnston, the province had committed to getting people paid by November, but the problem is still not solved.

“The province failing to remit this money and ensure that it gets into the pockets of the people who have worked for it really just shows that there’s a lack of respect for the sector,” says Johnston. “I can’t imagine this is something they would think was appropriate if you were talking about another type of worker.”

It was in March when Education Minister Brendan Maguire told reporters the work on this was “around the clock”.

Johnston said the government refuses to take ownership of the delay and they are fed up.

“We’ve sent many letters. We’ve gone through all the proper channels and still we’re getting kind of non-answers from the department,” explains Johnston.

“Workers involved are willing to push this issue further until it gets addressed.”