N.S. news: School support staff vote to strike [Video]

Five-thousand Nova Scotia school support workers could walk off the job after a successful strike vote.

Ninety-four per cent of workers who cast ballots voted yes on a strike mandate last week, according to a news release from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The 5,000 support staff workers are members of eight CUPE locals across Nova Scotia.

“The treatment of school support staff is indicative of the state of public education in Nova Scotia,” said Nan McFadgen, president of CUPE Nova Scotia, in the news release. “Even working full-time, the province is not paying these workers enough to live. On top of that they are overworked, understaffed, and as we know, at risk for workplace violence every single day.”

CUPE says the employer is pushing for a percentage-based wage increase, which they say would create bigger increases for higher-paid workers.

The union also says violence in the workplace, leave benefits, workload concerns, and …