Community College faculty members ratify collective agreement

HALIFAX, May 22, 2013 /CNW/ - Community College faculty members of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, employed by the Nova Scotia Community College, have voted in favour of the tentative agreement reached between the College and the Nova Scotia Teachers Union on May 4. The online vote took place today.

Seventy-eight per cent of members of the Community College faculty voted 92 per cent in favour of their agreement. The duration of the new collective agreement is from September 1, 2011 to August 31, 2014. The faculty bargaining unit includes some 720 members who teach at NSCC campuses across the province.

"We're pleased that our members have ratified this new agreement, and I congratulate both negotiating teams for their hard work and dedication in achieving a fair and equitable agreement for our faculty members," says NSTU president Shelley Morse. "In the coming days we will continue the bargaining process on behalf of our professional support members."

Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) president Don Bureaux adds, "I too am very pleased to see an agreement realized on behalf of NSCC's dedicated faculty members this evening. It is thanks to the hard work and commitment of the bargaining teams for both the College and NSTU that this positive resolution has been achieved."

Highlights of the agreement include the same salary increase as the recent settlement for public school teachers: a salary increase of 7.5 per cent (7.7 compounded) over three years, with a two per cent increase effective September 1, 2011, a 2.5 per cent increase on September 1, 2012, and three per cent increase on September 1, 2013. Equity in vacation allotment was also achieved in this tentative agreement, which means that faculty members hired before and after August 1, 1998 will receive the same vacation entitlement. The tentative agreement also contains an increase in Total Care Extended Benefits, Dental, for major restoration services.

Both the NSTU and NSCC are continuing to negotiate a tentative agreement for the 156-member professional support bargaining unit, made up of professionals such as registrars, librarians, counsellors, student support workers and training coordinators.

The Nova Scotia Teachers Union represents more than 10,000 public school teachers, Community College faculty and professional support staff in Nova Scotia, and teachers who work for the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Since 1895, it has worked to improve the quality of public education for children and youth in Nova Scotia, while promoting and advancing the teaching profession.

SOURCE: Nova Scotia Teachers Union

Angela Murray, NSTU Public Relations Coordinator
Direct: 902-479-4708 Cell: 902-497-0194, [email protected], @NSTeachersUnion.

Kathleen Cameron, NSCC, Sr. Communications Advisor, 902-499-7844, [email protected], @NSCCNews