Sask. Teachers' Federation says it's ready to bargain
Education minister says conversations underway to ensure 'productive discussion'
The president of the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) says it is ready to get back to the bargaining table after its members rejected the provincial government's latest contract offer.
The STF said Thursday evening that 92.2 per cent of its members voted over the previous two days, with 90 per cent of them rejecting the province's offer. The three-year collective agreement offer featured a three per cent salary increase in the first and second years, with the first increase retroactive to September 2023, and then a two per cent increase in the third year.
STF president Samantha Becotte said she wasn't surprised by the resounding rejection.
"We did say that we were concerned that teachers wouldn't accept the government-trustee bargaining committee's (GTBC's) final offer when we were at the table," Becotte said on CBC's The Morning Edition on Friday.
"We pushed for two days trying to get them to move off of what they said was a final offer before we decided to take it to our members for a vote."
The STF said it has issued an invitation to the government's bargaining committee to resume negotiations on Monday.
"We're ready to get back to bargaining, we need the GTBC to have a renewed mandate," Becotte said. "As I've said before, I don't want to go sit at a table and just stare across and hear 'no' repeated back, or just get another take it or leave it."
Saskatchewan Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said there will be some conversations next week with the teachers' union, but did not commit to returning to the bargaining table.
"I think everybody in the province wants to know that when we go back to the bargaining table that it's going to be a productive discussion, and so I'd say there's conversations happening on both sides to see how we can make that happen," Cockrill said.
Offer didn't go far enough: Becotte
Saskatchewan's 13,500 teachers have been without a contract since August 2023 and voted in favour of job action in October. Months of job action followed, including rotating strikes, work-to-rule action, and withdrawal from extracurricular activities and voluntary duties.
Class size and complexity have been core issues during negotiations. The province's latest contract offer included an article stating that an accountability framework — laid out as part of a memorandum of understanding to ensure provincial funding doled out to the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) would benefit students — would be honoured.
Becotte said the government's latest contract offer didn't go far enough.
"Teachers need to see protections around their working conditions, students need to see improvements to their learning conditions, and we need increases to compensation that addresses the loss of purchasing power and curbs the growing recruitment and retention issues," Becotte said at a virtual press conference on Friday.
"We urge the government and SSBA to provide a new mandate and, despite the minister's comments, a mandate that it needs to include a plan to address classroom complexity."
Cockrill said the contract the government offered was fair.
"If you look over the last several months, you know there's already several areas where the government has moved on significant items. I would say we haven't seen the same from the teachers' bargaining committee," Cockrill said.
Official Opposition leader Carla Beck said the resounding contract vote proved how united the teachers are in their contract dispute with the province.
"We're calling on Scott Moe to get back to the bargaining table, bring fair proposals that address class size and complexity so that our kids can all resume their activities," Beck said
"But it is obvious that Scott Moe and his minister aren't up to the task in front of them and this government has shown us very clearly who they are and how much they value publicly funded education in this province."
Resolution could take time
Daniel Westlake, an assistant professor of political studies at the University of Saskatchewan, said a resolution could take time.
"Both sides feel that they've got good reason to be where they are in the negotiations, making the demands that they are, and those demands are difficult to reconcile," Westlake said.
Westlake added that the Saskatchewan government is in a difficult position.
"One way out of this is for the government to concede on questions of classroom complexity and on classroom sizes. But then they've got to find the money to do that and I don't know where the government's going to find it," Westlake said.
"They're certainly not going to make cuts to health care in order to find money for education, and I can't imagine them raising taxes or raising revenue sources to do that."
Potential for more job action
Becotte said that if the government continues to ignore their demands during contract negotiations or refuses to return to the table, there could be more job action, which could impact graduation and other end-of-year activities.
"We don't want to take any sanctions, and that's why I've said our focus is on getting to an agreement, but if the government and school boards association are refusing to engage in that process, then we have no other option," Becotte said. "It would be very disappointing."
Cockrill said 24 out of Saskatchewan's 27 school divisions are prepared to host graduation ceremonies regardless of job action.
STF members will be voting next Wednesday and Thursday on whether to extend the union's mandate to implement sanctions, like work stoppages, beyond the current school year. The current mandate expires on June 30. The results will be shared on Thursday.
The STF said it hopes to reach a new agreement at the bargaining table without further job action, but that it must prepare for possibility of the contract dispute continuing throughout the summer and into the next school year.
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With files from Kendall Latimer, Adam Hunter and The Morning Edition