The Nova Scotia Teachers Union plans to hold a strike vote next month.
NSTU president Ryan Lutes said the union held negotiations with the province over the last 10 months, and called in the services of a conciliator. He said the union sees the strike vote as the next step and as a means to send a message to the provincial government.
The union represents around 10,000 public school teachers and specialists. Over the last five years, Lutes said 84 per cent of teachers contemplated quitting. He said this is happening in the middle of a teacher shortage where they can’t hire the right number of substitutes to replace teachers who are absent or sick, while at the same time there is an escalated level of violence in schools.
The strike vote is planned for April 11. Lutes said they don’t have any bargaining dates scheduled before the vote, but said the union is always willing to sit down with government.
