3-person panel selected for arbitration between STF, provincial government on teachers' contract

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) and the provincial government have selected their nominees for a three-person arbitration panel.

Teachers in the province have been without a contract since last August. The STF organized rotating strikes and job action throughout this year.

Last month, both sides agreed to arbitration on teachers' pay and a classroom complexity-accountability framework.

On Tuesday, the STF bargaining committee announced it has selected Dawn Harkness as its nominee to the arbitration panel. Harkness is a recently retired Saskatoon Public School teacher and principal, according to the STF. 

The province has selected Greg Chatlain, the former director of education for Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, as its nominee. 

Both sides have agreed to Daniel Ish, a former University of Saskatchewan law professor and dean of the college of law, as the arbitrator.

Each side will submit written positions and make presentations. The panel will weigh the arguments and then issue a decision in the form of a legally binding written report.

Those recommendations will become part of the final contract between the two sides.

Dates for the arbitration have not yet been set.