Striking restorative justice caseworkers are back on the job after reaching a collective agreement with their employer – the Community Justice Society.
Members of Canadian Union of Public Employees local 4764 had been on strike for about five weeks.
The caseworkers say their work is similar to probation officers but the pay scale is much lower.
They also saw their workloads spike significantly after government changed their role in 2016 from working with just youth to include adults.
That resulted in their caseloads increasing 149 percent without any new staff being added.
Shila LeBlanc, strike chair with the local, says the provincial government stepped in and increased their employer’s funding, allowing them to achieve a fair contract.
“Our employer explicitly stated that they felt we deserved to have higher wages and more funding but they themselves do not control the funding envelope they receive from the Department of Justice.”
The group had argued throughout the strike that the dispute would be resolved if government increased their funding to the Community Justice Society.
The caseworkers will see a nearly 20 per cent raise effective immediately, bringing wages from around $37,000 to $42,000.
LeBlanc says it’s a win, not just for them but for all caseworkers.
“This wage increase is going to be rolled out not just to the five of us that are unionized caseworkers but provincially to all restorative justice caseworkers, regardless of whether they are unionized or not.”
The five caseworkers who were on strike are the only unionized group in the province and are based out of the Halifax Regional Municipality.
LeBlanc says there are around 40 restorative justice caseworkers in Nova Scotia.
Justice Minister Mark Furey confirmed that the government would be increasing caseworkers’ pay across the province.
He says after hearing from the striking employees, government analyzed the pay scales province-wide and increased the grant to each of the nine restorative justice societies that operate the program.
During the dispute Furey maintained it was an issue between the caseworkers and their employer.
Furey says the province didn’t receive a request to increase increase funding after caseloads were increased, however he says he heard from the workers and felt the issue needed to be looked at.
“It wasn’t until after the fact they went on strike that it was brought to my attention, and being familiar with the restorative justice program, we were able to do that analysis and make these determinations,” says Furey.
The striking workers spent a day picketing outside of Furey’s Bridgewater office less than a week before a deal was reached.
Furey, a former RCMP officer, says he believes Nova Scotia has one of the leading models of restorative justice and the new wages reflect the value of the work.
“We have Dalhousie professors who are exporting the Nova Scotia restorative justice program in other countries.”
Story by Brittany Wentzell
Twitter: @BrittWentzell
