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The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation said Friday that it is looking at restarting the bargaining process after members voted to reject the province’s final contract offer this week.
The STF said 90 per cent of voters opposed the offer put forward by the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee (GTBC), with 92.2 per cent of union members casting their vote on Wednesday and Thursday.
This was first time Saskatchewan teachers voted on a tentative agreement since declaring negotiations had reached an impasse in October 2023. The teachers started job action in January.
STF president Samantha Becotte said she sees the rejected vote as a “reset” in the bargaining process, a chance to start over. She also said binding arbitration is an option to resolve the dispute.
“It would provide a fair, judicial path forward that would look at both sides’ arguments and come with a decision on how we can resolve this dispute one way or another,” Becotte said.
She said the vote tells students, families and the Teachers’ Bargaining Committee that teachers are committed to securing a sustainable future for publicly funded schools and for the supports students need in classrooms.
The three-year agreement offered by the province included salary increases of three per cent in year one, three per cent in year two and two per cent in year three, with retroactive pay to September 2023. It also made reference to an accountability framework outlined in a memorandum of understanding on classroom supports.
The province called the agreement its “final offer.”
Becotte said the government needs to provide a new mandate that includes classroom complexity and invited the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee to return to the negotiating table on May 13-14.
“We know we aren’t going to solve everything with classroom complexity in one round, but we will continue to advocate for improvements in the years to come,” she said.
Becotte said teachers will not restart job action if there is a commitment from the government to return to the bargaining table.
Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill called the result of the vote disappointing and said he thinks the government has proved its dedication to education through its most recent budget promises and the multi-year funding agreement.
“The government fully intends to honour those agreements, we put that sentence in the contract,” he said Friday.
Cockrill also said the government hopes to head back to the table for “productive” conversations with the teachers’ union, leaving some Saskatchewan parents confused.
“Didn’t the government tell everybody that this was the final offer,” said Caitlin Erickson, who has six children attending public school in Saskatoon.
“(Cockrill’s) messaging really just doesn’t make sense and, as a parent, it’s very concerning seeing that this is the individual behind education in this province,” she said.
Erickson said teachers should be holding out against the province to address issues of classroom complexity.
“As a parent, I fully support what they are doing,” she said. “It really speaks to individuals how we treat the education of our children because they are the next generations. You can really see who people are in government when they don’t take this seriously.”
In April, Cockrill said the school could be extended if the teachers rejected the province’s contract and take further job action.
He echoed his statement on Wednesday.
“The reality is, even though there have been work-to-rule sanctions, instructional time has been affected in several divisions and there is going to be several divisions that won’t hit the 950 hours that are required under legislation,” Cockrill said.
Becotte said it would unfortunate if STF was forced to reinstate job action that could affect graduation, but that nothing is off the table, including a full strike.
“We are always looking at how we can get the government back to the table,” she said.
Cockrill said 24 of the 27 school divisions are committed to making graduation ceremonies happen where they can if job action is reinstated.
The province has not said whether or not they will return to the bargaining table on May 13-14.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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