Sask. teachers vote 95% in favour of sanctions after contract impasse, union says

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation says a vote by the province's teachers this week on possible sanctions passed with 95 per cent approval.

Teachers voted this week after their union said negotiations with the provincial government on a new contract had reached an impasse.

Union president Samantha Becotte said 90 per cent of teachers in the province voted, which she said should send a message to the provincial Saskatchewan Party government.

"Enough is enough to this government, [to] every elected official that continues to turn their back on our children, on our classrooms, on the future of this province," Becotte said on Friday in front of a room of about 200 teachers who are STF delegates.

"Enough is enough."

Becotte said the vote provides the support needed if the teachers' federation executive deems sanctions necessary between now and June 30, 2024.

Earlier this week, she said a range of sanctions could be imposed.

"We are not hoping to have any action, but the sanctions could be anything from a withdrawal of voluntary services right through a withdrawal of professional services or a strike," Becotte said following Wednesday's throne speech.

Withdrawal of voluntary services, also known as work-to-rule job action, would mean teachers show up just 20 minutes before the start of each school day, only do tasks related to classroom learning and leave 20 minutes after the end of each school day. The arrival and departure edict also applies to teachers with administrative duties.

In the past, teachers' federation sanctions have included rotating strikes and cutting voluntary extracurricular activities such as coaching sports and field trips.

The Saskatchewan Party government accused the union of walking away from negotiations, and said it is disappointed the STF is willing to impose sanctions that could impact students and their families.

A conciliation board will be established in the coming weeks to help the bargaining committees reach a new collective agreement, as per the union's request, a government spokesperson said in an email, adding "it is our hope that the STF will come back and resume negotiations."

Bargaining for months

The union and the Ministry of Education have been at the bargaining table since June. The previous contract expired in August.

Becotte said the province has refused to move from its opening position and is unwilling to even consider nine of the union's 10 proposals.

She said one of her main concerns is the province isn't addressing growing complexities in Saskatchewan classrooms. 

"Teachers do not want to see disruptions, but teachers also can't continue down this path because we just know that it is not what is best for kids," Becotte said. 

"We need to start to see the support for our students, whether it is smaller class sizes, whether it is more mental health supports, more EAs [educational assistants] in the classrooms."

Becotte also said said more has to be done to support action on calls from the Truth and Reconciliation, and reducing violence in classrooms. 

In April, thousands of teachers, parents and students gathered in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building to call for more public education funding. The teachers' federation has mini-rallies planned in Saskatoon on Saturday and in North Battleford on Nov. 4. 

Saskatchewan Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said the province allocated $40 million in June for school divisions, which he said are better equipped to deal with concerns in the classroom than the provincial government.

"We've got 27 locally elected school divisions that know their communities better than almost anybody. They understand specific dynamics within a school and staffing within their sets of schools. My hope is that we continue to work with school divisions on class size and complexities," Cockrill said on Wednesday.

"But when it comes to bargaining we don't think that should be bargained at the provincial level."

Becotte said in June that the cash injection is simply not enough to meet the needs of schools and students in the province.

Offered a fair deal: Cockrill

The education minister also said the province has offered the teachers' union a seven per cent increase over three years.

"We think what we've put forward is a fair deal, " Cockrill said.

In a video released on social media Monday, Cockrill insisted that the province has been at the bargaining table since June, then took aim at the union.

Becotte pushed back against the video earlier this week, describing the post — and billboards from the provincial government earlier this year stating the average teacher's salary is $92,000, compared to $90,300 average in Western Canada — as examples of a failure to negotiate in good faith.

"To say that they're at the table when all they do is come and provide misinformation, or say no to any of the proposals that we've brought forward, isn't showing up to the table to really negotiate," she said.

The teachers' federation called the billboards misleading and a distraction from the bargaining process.   

NDP education critic Matt Love, a former teacher, said the province is not respecting the province's teachers in the negotiations.

"Teachers are standing up for the learning conditions of their students. Those students learning conditions are teachers working conditions," Love said.

"If they're refusing to listen to what's best for our kids, then what does that say about this government?"