Teachers ratify agreement that includes nothing about class composition

The Saskatchewan Teachers Federation has ratified a collective bargaining agreement with the provincial government, the STF announced Thursday evening.

The deal includes nothing about class composition and complexity, the biggest priority for the teachers, who had been in bargaining since August.

"The Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee was unwilling to include any provisions about class complexity in the Agreement," an STF news release said.

The four year deal is retroactive to Septenber 2019, with teachers getting a two per cent pay raise each year from 2020 to 2022. There is no pay increase for 2019.

The concerns of the province's teachers have not been addressed by this deal, STF President Patrick Maze said in that same release.

"Teachers recognize the world has changed dramatically and settling the contract enables them to focus their energy on supporting their students by continuing to adapt their teaching strategies and provide quality emergency remote learning for the rest of this school year," Maze said.

Students have been out of class since March, when COVID-19 was first detected in the province. Earlier this month, the government cancelled the remainder of the school year.

It is not yet known if there will be students in classes when school returns in the fall season.