HALIFAX -- A meeting to discuss working conditions for Nova Scotia teachers will go ahead despite a refusal by their union to participate in the inaugural gathering, the province's education minister said late Wednesday.
Karen Casey said in a statement that she's disappointed the executive of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union had walked away from the meeting that was scheduled to go ahead Thursday.
Casey said she plans on holding the gathering of the Partnership on Systemic Working Conditions without the union's presence.
"We are committed to hearing from teachers, so we can improve their working conditions," Casey said in the statement. "This meeting will benefit members, but the union is refusing to engage."
The committee is made up of representatives from the teachers' union, school boards and the education department.
The union called for the postponement of the inaugural meeting Wednesday, as the minister of labour rejected a request to appoint a mediator to resolve a labour dispute.
Kelly Regan said she didn't believe an external mediator could help resolve the dispute, adding that she'll continue to monitor the situation and would revisit the decision if circumstances change.
Union president Liette Doucet said that since agreeing to participate in the committee, Premier Stephen McNeil has insisted that working conditions will only be discussed through this process and not through bargaining.
"The final straw was (Tuesday) when Education Minister Karen Casey held a news conference about teacher workload issues and did not invite or inform the Nova Scotia Teachers Union," said Doucet, citing the minister's decision to suspend some provincial student assessments -- a move the union called "symbolic" as most provincial assessments for this school year are already complete.
"We will not lead teachers into a process with government that appears intended to provide sound bites and distract from our ongoing labour dispute."
The teachers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike that could take place as early as Dec. 3, after rejecting the province's latest contract offer.
