Sask. premier alludes to extending school year as teachers prepare to vote on contract offer
Voting on the proposed contract opens at 8 a.m. CST Wednesday and closes at 6 p.m. CST Thursday
As teachers in Saskatchewan prepare to vote on a contract put forward by provincial negotiators, Premier Scott Moe has alluded to potentially extending the school year if they reject the offer.
Moe made the comments to media after an event held by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce Monday.
"It would be unfortunate if through various job action that has occurred, or may be yet to occur, that school divisions would have to make difficult choices about extending the school year by a number of days or weeks, to ensure that our students do receive the instructional hours that they have a right to," said Moe.
Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) president Samantha Becotte questioned the motives behind Moe's statement.
Becotte said there has been more time lost to snow days in past years than to sanctions.
"It's a little bit of a stretch to think that we may have to extend the school year because of the actions that have been taken by teachers so far," Becotte said. "It's disappointing that they are really overstepping their role and trying to influence the vote."
It's the latest in a series of jabs that seem to show tensions between the provincial government and the STF remain high.
Charles Smith, an associate professor of political studies at the University of Saskatchewan, said Moe didn't do a great job of selling the contract to the STF or to the public.
"If he was proud of this agreement, if there was an endorsement from the union or from teachers themselves, I think we would hear different language," Smith said in an interview Tuesday.
What is on the table
The province's 13,500 teachers have been without a contract since August 2023 and voted heavily in favour of sanctions in October.
Job action began in mid-January with one-day provincewide strikes. That was followed by a series of rotating strikes, withdrawals of voluntary duties and work-to-rule action.
Starting on Wednesday at 8 a.m. CST, teachers will vote on a contract offer for the first time since the STF began job action.
The proposed three-year contract includes three per cent salary increases in the first and second years, with the first increase retroactive to September 2023, and a two per cent increase in the third year.
The contract proposal also includes an article stating that an accountability framework — laid out as part of a memorandum of understanding to ensure provincial funding doled out to the Saskatchewan School Boards Association would benefit students — would be followed and honoured.
Becotte has repeatedly insisted that the issues of classroom complexity and class size should be part of the collective agreement.
A 'fair offer': premier
Becotte said she would remain neutral on the proposal, instead focusing on providing teachers with information about the benefits and the consequences before letting the membership decide.
She said if teachers reject the offer, the STF will reach out to the government to restart bargaining.
"But I mean, if the government chooses not to engage in good faith, if they choose not to negotiate with us, then we may be taking additional sanction action."
Smith said it seems fair to say the STF is not thrilled with the proposal on the table. Although he has no knowledge of the STF's internal negotiation, he said leadership's decision to bring the offer to the membership is a sign the STF believes its ability to negotiate with the province's bargaining team is at an end.
"I'm sure they've had conversation about what it would mean if it's rejected overwhelmingly, what that means going forward, because the membership has a right to reject it. And if it does, that means we're back to where we were before the vote," Smith said.
That could mean another round of negotiations or more job action.
Moe said the government's position is that this is "a fair offer" for teachers and "a good offer for parents and students across the province."
"It will provide us some stability in an environment where I think we can all agree we need to have an ongoing conversation about education in our province," Moe said.
Voting is set to close at 6 p.m. CST on Thursday.
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With files from Scott Larson