Sask. teachers' union, province trade blame on stalled bargaining talks
CTV
The union representing Saskatchewan's teachers and the province's education minister are accusing each other of walking away from the bargaining table.
The union representing Saskatchewan's teachers and the province's education minister are accusing each other of walking away from the bargaining table.
The development comes after two days of contract talks were scheduled for this week, the first such negotiations in months.
“They agreed to come back to the table, we had a meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday that was the agreed upon time, we showed up at 1 p.m. and began to share the movement that we made on several items and by 1:30 p.m. we were the only ones left in the room,” Education Minister Jeremey Cockrill said during a news conference Wednesday morning.
An allegation the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation president Samantha Becotte quickly dismissed during her own news conference an hour later.
According to Becotte, the two sides separated around 2 p.m. on Monday, as is typical during bargaining, giving both sides a chance to discuss proposals privately.
Becotte said communications took place in an effort to set up a new time for discussions – eventually settling on 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, a meeting that never happpened.
The STF suspended a planned lunch-hour walk out last week after Premier Scott Moe announced he would send the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee (GBTC) back to the bargaining table with a renewed "mandate."
