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“Support staff do the work that is not seen but is necessary to keep the schools functioning.”— Joan Jessome, NSGEU President.
South Shore, NS (27 June 2014) — “We are disappointed by the SSRSB decision to cut school support positions in the South Shore Regional School Board, including two administrative assistant positions,” says Joan Jessome, President of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU/NUPGE).
Support staff layoffs harm quality education
“School support staff, including payroll clerks, information technologists, and administrative assistants are critical links in our education system,” says Jessome. “Support staff do the work that is not seen but is necessary to keep the schools functioning.”
These cuts to positions will mean fewer jobs in Nova Scotia's rural communities and fewer people doing more work in the school boards. Every position is important to the economies of our rural communities.
Province is holding an education review but have not included support staff in the process
The NSGEU/NUPGE is lobbying the government to have support staff included in the educational review process precisely because their work is critically important, but goes largely unrecognized and unacknowledged. Currently, the province has not included support staff in the review process.
NSGEU/NUPGE represents a variety of workers at the South Shore Regional School Board who keep the Board functioning. The positions include information systems and design officer, compliance and training officer, IT support specialist, purchasing officer, head payroll clerk and payroll clerk, transportation clerk, oll clerk, accounting clerk, receptionist clerk, purchasing clerk, central office administrative assistant and school administrative assistant.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE