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Saskatchewan teachers are set to finish voting on a new agreement with the provincial government Thursday evening, deciding whether to accept what the province calls its “final offer.”
Members of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation voted on Wednesday and into Thursday, with final votes being allowed until 6 p.m. Thursday evening.
This vote is the first time Saskatchewan teachers are voting on an agreement since job action took place and the impasse was declared in October 2023.
In April the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee (GTBC) presented its final offer to teachers.
The final offer includes:
- A three-year agreement.
- Salary increases of three per cent in year one, three per cent in year two and two per cent in year three with retroactive pay to September 2023.
- Reference to the accountability framework in relation to a Memorandum of Understanding among the three parties.
It said the agreement provides stability to the education sector and enhancements to teachers’ benefits package, and includes an accountability framework.
The STF said it saw little to no movement from the government during the most recent bargaining talks but stated it would remain neutral and be “bringing the facts” to teachers before the voting process.
STF president Samantha Becotte said there are only slight improvements compared with the previous offer, but noted salary has barely increased and it doesn’t address the teachers’ loss of purchasing power.
Contract negotiations between the STF and the province started in May 2023, before coming to a head in January 2024 when teachers began to strike, demanding a better offer.
Throughout negotiations, the STF has said issues like classroom size and complexity need to be addressed within the contract.
Multiple one-day strikes took place after negotiations fell through, before rotating strikes, cutting lunchroom supervision, extracurriculars and work to rule.
Recently the minister of education Jeremy Cockrill announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was offered to teachers with support from the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, but STF said the government wouldn’t make it binding.
Cockrill said all parties would work together to create an accountability framework for the multi-year funding agreement that was signed between the SSBA and the education ministry earlier this year.
Becotte said the accountability framework is one of the improvements in the offer from the GTBC this week and that the dollars in the multi-year funding agreement will help address the challenges of classroom size and complexity.
Becotte said on Thursday that she will address the media Friday morning about the results of the vote.
More to come.
– With files from Global News’ Andrew Benson and Brody Langager.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.