Sask. Teachers' Federation says it's ready to bargain

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.

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."