Education minister 'optimistic' teachers will vote in favour of contract

Education Minister Karen Casey says she's "hopeful and optimistic" a majority of teachers will support the tentative contract agreement, despite how vocal some opponents have been to the latest deal with the province.

The ratification vote is being held today, and as of mid-afternoon more than 90 percent of teachers, administrators and staff who are members of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union had voted in the online process.

"I think teachers have been very vocal in letting their union leadership and their negotiating team know what their concerns are and so I'm hopeful that that is reflected to their satisfaction in the tentative deal and that will answer the concerns that they may have had previous to this," Casey said.

In previous votes, teachers have soundly rejected two tentative agreements recommended to them by the NSTU executive.

Speaking to reporters, Casey refused to say what would happen if teachers rejected this latest offer.

"If it's a no vote we have, then we have to decide what the next steps are. That is uncertain."

'Period of transition'

Despite the uncertainty of the vote result, Casey was ready to look ahead beyond the contract dispute and a return to normal classroom conditions. Teachers have been in a work-to-rule campaign since Dec. 5, aside from a brief suspension last month.

"I know that regardless of the vote there will be a period of transition when the work-to-rule no longer exists," Casey said. "And teachers, many of them want to get back to the classroom. I believe that transition period will begin immediately.

"There's no question student programming has been interrupted and disrupted during this long period of work-to-rule and it is my hope that that transition time will be quick."

Work-to-rule means teachers are prevented from performing any actions not strictly laid out in their contracts. Classroom teaching has continued, while many extracurricular activities and school sports programs have been cancelled.

Casey expects return normal

Casey expects many teachers want to return to the way things were before work-to-rule, even though union president Liette Doucet has said teachers are embracing the new norm of showing up 20 minutes before class and leaving not long after the last bell.

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Casey suggested some NSTU members have been adhering to union directives only grudgingly.

"Some of those directives, I believe were not well received by some teachers but it was the directive from their union and they've taken that. I think they'll see some sense of relief when this is over."