Union grieving time lag in school support workers receiving back pay

Hundreds of school support workers have not received back pay they have been owed for a year or longer, the Nova Scotia Government Nova Employees Union (NSGEU) says.

“More than 800 school support workers, who are delivering critical services in schools in our rural communities, resolved their strike and negotiated a new contract back in November 2022,” NSGEU president Sandra Mullen said in release.

That settlement ensured they would be compensated the same as school employees in other areas of the province, Mullen said. 

“But many are still owed significant backpay by their employer, some of which dates back to November 2022 and are being told they will have to wait until March 2024 to receive those funds,” she said.

“People are struggling now. Government should not be making them suffer through another cold winter without money that is owed to them.”
 
The NSGEU is moving ahead with grievances against each of the three regional centres for education involved – South Shore, Annapolis Valley and Tri-County.

The union says it will take the three regional centres to arbitration to seek a fair resolution, including interest and damages, for its members.

The new contracts call for a comprehensive compensation review process, which resulted in many pay bands being adjusted substantially upward to match those in other regional centres and the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP).

The three regional centres have denied the grievances, saying they will not implement the new wage rates or pay affected members their owed backpay any earlier than March 2024, the same month that the collective agreements will expire. 

“It is unfortunate that the employers could not conclude this matter in a timely manner, and as a result, they may need to pay a penalty in the form of interest for their failure,” Mullen said. “More than a year after the strike and school employees in the South Shore, Valley and Tri-County still haven’t received their appropriate pay and retro.”

The union says it has have referred the grievances to arbitration, where an arbitrator will decide the merits of the grievances and whether members will be awarded the additional interest and damages sought.
 
The process included determining proper comparators to similar jobs across the province and determining a total compensation rate for all classifications.

Many of these matters were resolved in the summer, but the employers and government did not act to implement the pay adjustments as quickly as they should have, the union argues.
 
Classifications that to date have been reviewed and agreed to include educational asssistants, early childhood educators, student support workers, native student advisers, administrative assistants, library personnel, receptionists, assistive technology support workers and IT staff. 

This represents the vast majority of the locals, although there are still a number of classifications rates to be reviewed and agreed to that include outreach workers, student supervisors, child and youth practitioners, parent navigators, central office clerks and cafeteria workers.