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The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation and the provincial government both have said they to want to get back to the bargaining table, but neither group is budging on negotiation points.
One day after some teachers around Saskatchewan on the first day of rotating strikes, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill told The Evan Bray Show that he had not spoken with STF president Samantha Becotte in the past few weeks.
Cockrill said binding arbitration is not a possibility; he wants to get back to negotiations.
“If this is actually about the kids, then I think it’s time for the teachers’ federation to come back to the bargaining table, and continue talking about our initial offers on both sides,” he said.
When asked if he believed the strike would affect the Saskatchewan Party in the next election, Cockrill pointed to the pilot projects the government has been working on to address class complexity. He believes those projects will help deal with the issue.
Becotte has criticized the new pilot projects, saying they’re a way to avoid including classroom complexities in contract negotiations.
Cockrill said the government is firm that classroom size and complexity does not belong in a bargained agreement. The government maintained those issues should be dealt with at the school board level.
After Friday, Cockrill added he will have met with more than 20 of the 27 school divisions in the province.
In terms of salary, the provincial government is offering a seven per cent increase over three years.
“The 23.4 per cent increase that is the STF’s initial demand, that doesn’t work for us as government and certainly the taxpayers of this province,” Cockrill said. “We want to make sure teachers are well-compensated, but it also has to be a fair and reasonable deal for the taxpayers for this province.”
Teachers are aiming for an annual increase of two per cent – plus a Consumer Price Index average annual rate – for four years.
On Wednesday, Becotte told Bray it was frustrating to see the opening offers plastered on billboards all over Saskatchewan.
“These are our opening proposals. We didn’t put them up on billboards and say that that’s the only offer,” she said.
Two provincewide, daylong teacher strikes are being followed by rotating strikes. The first rotating strike took place Thursday in all schools in the Holy Trinity, Horizon, Prairie South, Prince Albert Catholic, Saskatchewan Rivers, Light of Christ and Living Sky divisions, plus Sakewew High School in North Battleford.
It affected 3,000 teachers and 35,000 students.
