A classroom at the Newport Station District school in Newport Station.PAUL DARROW/The Globe and Mail
Hundreds of school staff in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley are on the picket line today in a dispute over wages.
More than 600 workers at the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education walked off the job at 8 a.m., although schools remain open.
The striking workers include educational assistants, early childhood educators, student support workers and outreach workers.
The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union says the strike comes after more than a year of bargaining.
The union says the sticking point is that staff in the Annapolis Valley and on the province’s South Shore earn less than staff in Halifax doing the same jobs, with starting pay for some positions as low as minimum wage.
Another 160 workers at the South Shore Regional Centre for Education are to begin a strike on Tuesday.