Saskatchewan teachers headed back to picket lines after talks break down

Saskatchewan teachers are going back on strike.

In a media release Tuesday evening, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation announced that talks with the province’s Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee had collapsed.

As a result, teachers will reinstate sanctions on Friday.

One-day rotating strikes are set for schools in the Saskatchewan Rivers, Prince Albert Catholic, Living Sky and Light of Christ school divisions, and at Sakewew High School in North Battleford, École St Isidore De Bellevue in Prince Albert, École Valois in Prince Albert, École Père Mercure in North Battleford, and the Saskatchewan Distance Learning Corporation’s North Central Campus in Prince Albert.

As well, the union said demonstration sites will be set up across the street from Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill’s office in North Battleford and Premier Scott Moe’s office in Shellbrook from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday.

Teachers also will withdraw noon-hour supervision in all schools provincewide on Friday. The union noted families should expect the sanctions to continue after next week’s February break unless a deal is reached in the interim.

“Teachers understand that job action is a significant inconvenience to many families, but we appreciate the heartfelt and unwavering support we have received from all parts of the province,” STF president Samantha Becotte said in the release.

“Parents and caregivers, students, businesses, community groups and individuals understand that an investment in education is an investment in the lives of children and youth and the prosperity of our province.”

Becotte also posted a 45-second video to the STF’s Twitter feed outlining the situation.

“Enough is enough,” she said. “Come to the table ready to negotiate in good faith on teachers’ working conditions and students’ learning conditions and teacher compensation.

“We need to find a solution that ensures that we have predictable and sustainable funding so that students are getting the support that they need in all schools across the province.”

We set aside two full days to bargain in good faith with the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee (GTBC).

Today, they didn't even bother to show up.

Our kids deserve better than not showing up. pic.twitter.com/8ADY1xJWOW

— Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (@SaskTeachersFed) February 14, 2024

According to the union’s release, the two sides were scheduled to have a bargaining session Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., but during the afternoon, the provincial government said its representatives wouldn’t be returning to the table.

“The Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee promised a renewed mandate when it came back to the bargaining table, but it was readily apparent that the mandate was extremely limited,” Becotte said. “They immediately began stalling tactics that undermined good faith negotiations.

“Instead of beginning Monday morning, the GTBC delayed until Monday afternoon, then pushed Tuesday’s start to 5:30 p.m., before eventually cancelling altogether. The GTBC promised a renewed mandate when it came back to the bargaining table, but it is unable to negotiate without directly consulting the Minister of Education.”

The union said the government contacted the STF with a proposal that would occur outside of the bargaining process, but the union said it would only participate in discussions within negotiations.

In a video posted to Moe’s social media feed, Cockrill said the government was disappointed to hear that the union “has once again walked away from the bargaining table.”

“Two new commitments were offered to address the STF leadership’s outstanding concerns,” Cockrill said. “One, the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee made a new offer around teacher salaries, and two, outside of the contract, government has put forward a commitment regarding classroom composition.

“Bargaining requires both sides to be at the table, and the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee was ready to negotiate a fair deal. But the teachers’ union chose to walk away after just 30 minutes.”

A fair deal for teachers means both sides need to be willing to negotiate at the bargaining table.

The government is there.

The teachers’ union is not.

See the most recent update on bargaining from Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill. pic.twitter.com/TgrgqSM6VZ

— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) February 14, 2024

In late January, the teachers started one-day, rotating strikes at schools around the province in hopes of getting the government back to the bargaining table. That was followed in early February by the threat of withdrawing lunch-hour supervision in schools.

Both tactics were suspended Feb. 7, when the provincial government invited the union back to the table — and offered a different deal.

Teachers have been seeking an annual salary increase of two per cent — plus the Consumer Price Index average annual rate — for four years. According to Cockrill, that amounted to a 23.5 per cent hike over the four-year period.

The provincial government started with a counteroffer of a seven per cent salary bump over three years, but moved off that number in hopes of restarting negotiations.

On Feb. 7, the government authorized the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee to offer the union a new mandate: To either negotiate an extension of the current salary offer already on the table, or to negotiate that teachers will receive the same annual salary adjustments the same way that MLAs receive them.

That latter proposal was something the union had been seeking.

The teachers also have been eager to have class size and classroom complexity included in the deal, but the government has been adamant those topics don’t belong in the collective bargaining agreement. The province maintains those issues should be addressed by school divisions.

“They asked for class size and composition funding to be annualized; we’ve offered that,” Cockrill said in the video. “They asked for the two innovative pilot projects to be annualized; we’ve offered that. They asked for the same salary deal that MLAs get; we’ve offered that. They asked for workplace safety enhancements and we’ve offered that. And they asked for the ability to manage their own dental plan. And we have offered that.

“Teachers and children should be in the classroom; union leadership should be at the bargaining table. We remain at the table, ready to negotiate, whenever the union leadership is.”

Cockrill is to speak to the media Wednesday at 9 a.m., with Becotte holding a media availability an hour later.