Contract talks between STF, provincial government remain at standstill

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation didn’t make it back to the bargaining table with the provincial government this week as it had hoped.

On Friday, STF president Samantha Becotte spoke with the Evan Bray Show about the stalled contract negotiations.

“We did receive an invitation, and we have received invitations kind of on a weekly basis over the past couple of months,” she said. “Those invitations are hollow if they don’t come with a willingness to engage in back-and-forth conversations.”

Earlier this week, Becotte said the union was waiting on language within the proposed Memorandum on Understanding (MOU) to be clarified.

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill previously said the MOU will work as an accountability framework on classroom support money. The framework would be developed by individual school divisions with their teachers.

A major sticking point in contract negotiations was whether to include issues of class size and complexity in a collective agreement. The STF wants those issues included in the contract, while the government has said that’s not going to happen.

Becotte said the wording clarification in the accountability framework was to make sure the agreement was binding.

“Right now, in what the government had proposed, there is no dispute resolution process,” she said. “To me, it’s more of a reporting mechanism rather than an accountability framework because there is no way to correct any decisions where funds aren’t directed to the classroom.”

Contract talks fell apart in October of 2023, when the STF declared an impasse. The STF began implementing strikes and sanctions in January.

In March, Premier Scott Moe released details about the education budget before budget day, with a record amount of spending going towards classroom supports. The STF said it wanted funding promises in a contract so the government wouldn’t claw it back after the election.

“Solutions that the government is proposing, or that they have put out, in our view, they are attempts to distract and what they are trying to do,” Becotte said. “All of the solutions that they have put forward can be terminated at any point in time by the government and that’s not a real, long-term commitment.”

The STF said it would suspend all future job action if the government accepted its offer to go to binding arbitration. The government rejected the STF’s offer and the sanctions remained in place.

Becotte said more sanctions could come if contract negotiations remain stalled.

“Right now, there’s no sanction announcement but we will have to wait and see,” said Becotte.

In a statement, the Ministry of Education said conversations about resuming negotiations are continuing.

“Government and school boards remain firm that class size and complexity will not be included in the new collective agreement,” the ministry said. “However, government has offered the STF the ability to participate in the development of the accountability framework MOU and the subsequent framework.

“Their involvement would allow teachers to have direct input in the formation of the accountability framework that would oversee how the $356.6 million for classroom supports, as announced in the 2024-25 provincial budget, is utilized.”