CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh says, “Parents with children in the P-12 school system need to realize that a second year in a row of budget cuts is going to affect every single aspect of school boards operations.
“While teachers are obviously a vital part of the system, they simply could not function without the 4,500 CUPE school board workers who are the glue that holds the system together in every board across the province.”
Cavanagh says, “Three boards are facing cuts of 2.1 per cent plus they’ve been told they must absorb inflation which is currently running at close to 3 per cent and any wage increases. Minister Jennex and her cabinet colleagues have unleashed a triple whammy on our public education system.”
Adds Cavanagh, “For the minister to hide behind the idea of attrition, we’d like to remind people that attrition is just a fancy word for layoffs.”
CUPE Atlantic Regional Director Jacquie Bramwell says her organization will mobilize to fight these ridiculous cuts to education.
Says Bramwell, “We are perplexed at the Dexter Government’s decision to continue down this road. Being in government is about making choices and we want this government to know that this particular choice is shortsighted, and that’s being kind. There were 92 positions lost in the Cape Breton Board last year, and that was with a 1.65 per cent cut.
We would like to ask Minister Jennex if she imagines the children with special needs taking care of themselves or the school buses driving themselves. These schools are not being cleaned on their own, nor are the offices running themselves. Without the support staff in our schools, they simply will not function,” says Bramwell.