Government to Protect Service/Status of Substitute and Term Teachers

School board superintendents were informed this afternoon that school boards should not disrupt teachers' term service or status as a result of the strike action by the Nova Scotia Teachers Union today, Feb. 17.

Substitute service is governed by the Teachers' Provincial Agreement. Substitutes will not be paid for the day of the strike but their consecutiveness of substitute service will not be deemed to have been broken because of it.

Term contract teachers are governed by local agreements with respect to term status. Some local agreements contain provisions that recognize an unpaid day as a break in service and a corresponding impact on status.

"The decision to direct teachers to strike was made by the union, putting substitute and term teachers in a distressing situation," said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Karen Casey. "We have clarified that in no situation should a board disrupt term service or status as a result of the union's strike action today."