HALIFAX -- The Nova Scotia government is neither accepting nor rejecting a request from its public school teachers to send their contract dispute to conciliation.
The Nova Scotia Teachers Union asked the province on Thursday to appoint a board to kick start negotiations and stave off a strike set for early December.
In responding Friday, Premier Stephen McNeil said the government needs more information before deciding what to do.
"We are looking for clarification from them on exactly what it is that they are going to bring to the table," he told reporters.
In a letter tabled in the legislature, Education Minister Karen Casey asks for a "comprehensive, itemized list" of the articles and issues the union would refer to the conciliation board.
Casey also said the request does not indicate the province is agreeing to conciliation, just seeking a clear understanding of what the union considers unresolved issues.
If the government agrees, there can be no job action while the board is at work.
But McNeil said the government would not return to the table to negotiate over money.
"We have nine units that have agreed to our wage pattern, so if they want to talk about classroom conditions we are prepared to do that. We need to know exactly what it is that they want to talk about."
Union members voted 96 per cent in favour of strike action earlier this week after voting on Oct. 4 to reject the province's latest contract offer -- the second time this year they turned down a tentative agreement.
The province has until Tuesday to either accept or reject conciliation.
Acceptance would likely result in pushing the Dec. 3 strike deadline back, although it's not known how long the process would play out because the board has the option of asking for an extension before filing its report.
Any decision by a conciliation board would not be binding.
