I am writing in opposition to Bill 75 as a parent, taxpayer
and concerned citizen of Nova Scotia. This
Bill represents a gross erosion of the social contract of this province. The social contract is the story we tell
ourselves and our children that keeps us getting up every morning and putting
the best of ourselves into our work or our studies for the betterment of this
Province. The story goes something like
this: If I work, pay my taxes and obey
the law, the government will educate my children, I will be able to earn a fair
wage and receive good healthcare if I become ill.
Bill 75 erodes the social contract on two fronts – denying
students access to a quality education system and removing the collective
bargaining rights for teachers so that they will no longer be able to negotiate
a fair wage or improvements to their working conditions.
Teachers have been raising their concerns about the
classroom for years and these are adequately covered in the other submissions
to the Law Amendments Committee. From my
own perspective I find it shocking that adults can exit the Nova Scotian school
system and still not be able to read and write; this is a shameful state of
affairs and it is an indication of government neglect. I know a number of NS teachers and I have the
utmost respect for their capabilities and professionalism; the failure is of
the school system itself, which does not adequately support the range of
abilities in its over-crowded classrooms, does not provide for a textbook for
every child and does not fail children and hold them back a year if they do not
meet the learning outcomes.
The economic success of our Province depends on how well our
children are educated; children are best
educated when we let teachers teach. Surely
this is a concept that this pro-business government can understand and get
behind; it seems so short-sighted to under-fund education at the expense of
future prosperity and tax revenue.
Honestly it’s this kind of attitude that holds Nova Scotia back from its
full potential.
Teachers deserve to be well paid and well supported for
educating the next generation. Teachers have done the hard work to educate
themselves, many of them hold multiple degrees; they have ‘paid their dues’ by
working as subs, TA’s and hustling to find permanent positions, many of them
for years without giving up hope that one day they will find a school where
they can make a difference. The
government has treated the teachers terribly, strong arming them into wage
structures that don’t keep pace with inflation.
The removal of the service award is nothing less than theft – deferred wages
that many will now have to kiss goodbye if Bill 75 is passed.
It is transparent now that the Province’s intent was never
to negotiate in good faith as the Sword of Damacles – this egregious Bill – has
always been lurking in the background as the government’s trump card. This union-busting Bill is part of a broader
attack on Provincial public sector workers and it falls in line with a global
effort to weaken workers rights in the service of a capitalist system whose
utter failure and moral bankruptcy has been laid bare several times in recent
decades, not least with the 2008 Financial Crash. Bill 75 is on the wrong side of history in
this great struggle between humanity and a rapacious, parasitic corporate
elite.
Nova Scotia is better than this; we should be able to find a
balance so that the social contract works for its citizens again.
