STF has only bargained for 30 minutes in five months, Scott Moe says

As teachers prepare to withdraw extracurricular support across Saskatchewan, the province’s premier says the teachers’ union only spent a half-hour at the bargaining table over the past five months.

Teachers across Saskatchewan are planning to withdraw support for extracurriculars on Tuesday and Wednesday as their contract dispute with the province continues. Teachers in a number of school divisions will also withdraw noon-hour supervision on Tuesday.

Those moves follow a continuation of the union’s rotating strikes on Monday, which saw teachers picketing at the Legislative Building in Regina.

Along with a pay increase, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation is pushing for stipulations on class size and classroom complexity – the number of students who require additional support – to be included in teachers’ new collective agreement. The provincial government and Saskatchewan School Boards Association have both said those issues should be managed at the local level by school divisions.

In a social media post, Premier Scott Moe said the union has only spent a half hour at the bargaining table over the past five months.

“Students and teachers should be in the classroom,” the premier wrote. “The teachers’ union should be at the bargaining table.”

Speaking as the new legislative session began on Monday, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said the government has accommodated a number of demands from the federation.

The minister said those include annualization of funding to help address issues on class size and complexity and the annualization of two pilot projects aiming to reduce disruptions in classrooms and fund innovations brought forward by Saskatchewan teachers.

The government has also offered the union the ability to manage its own dental plan, Cockrill said, and has offered teachers the same salary formula used by Saskatchewan MLAs.

“This is a government that wants to get a deal done,” Cockrill said.

While the government remains ready to bargain at any time, the teachers’ union has been at the table for 30 minutes in the last five months.

Students and teachers should be in the classroom. The teachers’ union should be at the bargaining table.

Today in the Assembly,… pic.twitter.com/sQPAuEF02t

— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) March 5, 2024

“Mr. Speaker, it’s time for the union leadership to get back to the bargaining table so that teachers and students can be back in the classroom.”

The union has said it will not return to negotiations and sanctions will continue until the province gives a new mandate to its bargaining committee, allowing it to include class size and complexity in the new contract.

Federation president Samantha Becotte has said Cockrill can end the sanctions any time he wants.

“This job action can be stopped immediately when government is ready to negotiate on all issues of importance to teachers, including class size and complexity,” Becotte said in a statement issued last week.