Sask. Teachers’ Federation members begin voting on latest contract offer

Teachers are voting this week on whether to accept or reject a new contract offer.

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation’s 13,500 members are voting Wednesday and Thursday on the latest contract offer from the provincial government’s bargaining committee, after overwhelmingly rejecting a separate offer earlier this month.

Teachers have been without a contract since August, and the dispute between the federation and the government has seen teachers strike, implement work-to-rule measures, and withdraw both noon-hour supervision and support for extracurricular activities.

The offer currently on the table includes salary increases of three per cent in 2023-24 and 2024-25, and a two per cent increase in 2025-26.

The tentative agreement would also add another $18 million per year in provincial funding to help address issues with classroom complexity – the number of students who require additional or specialized help – which has been a sticking point for teachers since the negotiations began. That’s on top of the base amount of $356.6 million for classroom supports the province guaranteed in a multi-year agreement with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association in March.

At the start of negotiations, teachers were pushing for a much higher salary increase in the new contract, along with specific provisions to address class size and class complexity. But when details of the latest offer were revealed, federation president Samantha Becotte acknowledged that the new contract simply won’t solve all the problems Saskatchewan teachers can encounter at work.

“We’ve long acknowledged that the challenges in public education took a decade to create, and won’t be all be solved in one agreement,” Becotte said in a statement.

Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation president Samantha Becotte speaks to reporters in Regina. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

“It’s going to take a number of years to get to a solution,” she later told reporters. “It’s going to have to continue to be a focus for everyone in Saskatchewan.”

The new contract would also create a “Minister’s Task Force on Classroom Complexity,” bringing the voices of teachers, students and parents to the table and creating a report for the minister of education, though the group’s role would be limited to recommendations.

While the last contract proposal wasn’t endorsed by the federation and was ultimately and overwhelmingly rejected, Becotte was much more positive about the latest offer.

“We all worked very hard over the course of this week on both sides of the table to get to the point where we would be able to announce a tentative agreement,” she said.

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill was also hoping the latest offer will be ratified, in order to end the lengthy dispute between the province and teachers.

“I am hopeful that the tentative agreement will be finalized,” Cockrill said, “so that predictability is provided to families and teachers.”

While sanctions from the federation have been on hold since bargaining resumed, Cockrill has warned that the school year could potentially be extended if additional sanctions take away from class time.

Results of the vote will be made public on Thursday evening, the union said.