TRURO, N.S. – Premier designate Rodney MacDonald is receiving support from the country’s largest union in his demand for more child care funding from the Harper government.
The president of CUPE Nova Scotia, Danny Cavanagh, says, “Our new premier recognizes that the 7,000 new child care spaces which were to come from the federal-provincial deal are desperately needed by working families in this province.
“MacDonald must now join with other provinces in speaking out in support of the federal early learning and child care agreement that was signed by his government last year.”
“Stephen Harper has to first sit down with the provinces and discuss the situation. His current plan for child care is deeply flawed and his actions will put an impossible strain on federal-provincial-territorial relations.
“Our new premier has an obligation to press Harper to honour the deal signed with Nova Scotia, on behalf of the children and families who can’t find decent care,” he says
Says Cavanagh, “Child care workers have been subsidizing the system for too long with poverty level wages. It is no longer acceptable for ECE Teachers to be paid eight and nine dollars an hour to provide this invaluable service.”
For information:
Danny Cavanagh
President, CUPE Nova Scotia
(902) 899-0775 (Cell)
John McCracken
CUPE Communications Rep.
(902) 455-4180 (0)