Op-Ed: Houston government must return to the bargaining table with CUPE immediately

This week, dozens of schools remain closed with students and staff displaced because of the wildfires in HRM and Shelburne County. It is a terrifying situation, with homes lost, children and families scared, and first responders working around the clock to keep us safe.

While dozens of schools are closed due to the emergency, thousands of students are being prevented from learning because of the Houston government’s unwillingness to return to the bargaining table with CUPE education support workers.

This is the third week that these workers have been standing firm in their position that they can no longer support the children they adore if they cannot afford to support their own families. The majority of these workers are women, many are racialized, and all make less than a living wage. The average education worker makes about $1450 a month. The average 2-bedroom apartment in Halifax rents for $1450 a month.

The deal that the Houston government has offered won’t even cover the cost of inflation, leaving these workers worse off while costs for housing, fuel, and food continue to skyrocket.

Currently, these workers are making a few hundred dollars a week in strike pay. Most are already working second jobs to support themselves and are considering taking more hours in those workplaces. If the Premier chooses to continue to ignore the strike he is, by extension, ignoring the entire pre-primary program in HRM and every student who requires a support person. We don’t have enough ECEs or EPAs in the province. When these workers move on to other employment, it will be the entire education system, already strained, that loses, and all of the families that rely upon it.

Thousands of children who should be in school right now are at home. Because of the callous disregard of this government, these children are being denied a right to education, which is a violation of their human rights. There are thousands of families impacted. Parents on the picket line, not at work, and parents forced to find last-minute “organic” childcare, which for most families does not exist. This means many, mostly mothers, adapting or forgoing work (and wages) because of the inaction of this government.

The only effort we’ve seen to get students back into the classroom is to try to hire replacement workers, or scabs, for the EPAs on the picket line. It is fundamentally wrong to exclude these exceptional children and any child from the classroom, this is not a solution.

Early reports are that efforts to replace hundreds of workers have netted only dozens of replacements. These children need access to the workers they rely upon, who are trained to support them, and who they love and trust. Those workers need to earn enough to support themselves and their families. Until this happens, these jobs will go unfilled, or filled by inexperienced replacement workers on a temporary basis for wages no one can survive on for long. Far from being a solution, this will exacerbate the underlying issues and keep the strike going longer.

We want all children back in their classrooms, and all education workers back in their jobs, earning a wage that can support them and their families. That’s why we’re calling on the Houston government to return to the bargaining table immediately.

The Premier’s plan seems to be to starve the workers out and deny thousands of children access to the classroom until the end of the school year. This is callous, dangerous, and wrong, and like the Liberal austerity that got us to this place will haunt us for years to come. This government has shown they can change their minds when needed. The time for compromise is now - the government must return to the bargaining table today.

Claudia Chender is the Leader of the Nova Scotia NDP.