The province’s teachers aren’t the only group preparing for a strike vote.
Operation and support staff of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union working at NSCC have been without a contract for three years.
Negotiations between the employees and the college have been ongoing since the fall.
NSGEU president Jason MacLean places the blame for the impasse squarely on recently passed legislation.
“What Bill-148 did was take the whole proposal piece out of the union’s hands. To where the employer could absolutely say, no here’s what the government proposed, this is what you can get. Either you agree with it or you disagree with it. And it’s been a nightmare.”
MacLean is travelling around the province to attend local meetings.
The two sides have scheduled conciliation talks for March 19 to 21.
But MacLean says the mood is bleak.
“So far I would say of around 70 percent of the membership that I’ve seen, I believe we have a 100 percent strike mandate. However we haven’t revealed what the vote is because we have to wait until after everyone has their information session.”
MacLean says the employer has shown no respect to the employees.
He says his members are looking to maintain the status quo and not lose anything in negotiations.