The cancellation of school trips is part of the growing frustration included in the ongoing dispute between the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and provincial government, leaving one parent asking for compensation.
Gail MacDougall’s daughter is one of 40 Citadel High School students who missed a trip to Harvard University due to work-to-rule.
She says the parents are only getting partial deposits back from the airline and Harvard.
“For me it's not really about the money,” MacDougall says. “It's about the decisions that the NSTU took and the inconsistency of the decisions.”
The union declined to comment on the matter.
Complaints about the job action have been pouring in from parents and students as the reality of work-to-rule sets in. It's part of a dispute more than a year old.
The trip was scheduled for January, but had to be cancelled. MacDougall says the teacher has been “incredibly dedicated” and has supported students throughout the job action.
“The issue is mainly, for me, the decisions taken by the NSTU,” she says. “I think that the inconsistency that they’ve shown in not allowing the kid’s trips to go forward … has been incredibly problematic.”
MacDougall says there are long-term implications of students not having the opportunity to experience these types of trips.
“I think that (the NSTU) needs to be aware that their strike action, essentially, has impacted 40 kids,” she says.
MacDougall says the job action has also impacted her child’s university application to an out-of-province university.
“Carlton doesn’t really care that the teachers in Nova Scotia are on work-to rule,” she says. “They have entrance scholarships that require reference letters, so that’s been an issue for lots of the kids in Grade 12.”
The teachers are scheduled to vote on the latest tentative on Wednesday, but if schools are to closed due to inclement weather, that process could be delayed.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Sarah Ritchie.
