Teachers across Saskatchewan hit the picket line Tuesday after contract talks with the provincial government hit a wall.
The one-day demonstration took place across 40 locations in the province, with the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation wanting discussions around classroom size and complexity to be brought to the table.
“It is extremely unfortunate that government has pushed this issue to the point that it is now impacting schools,” said Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation president Samantha Becotte on Tuesday.
“This is the very last thing any teacher wants to do. Teachers and supporters throughout the province are braving the cold today to advocate for their students and ensure they get the resources they desperately need. This government simply cannot continue to ignore these growing concerns.”
Becotte and Canadian Teachers’ Federation president Heidi Yetman delivered over 3,300 letters addressed Premier Scott Moe and Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill at the Saskatchewan Legislature on Tuesday.
The letters were from parents and teachers outlining issues in schools like class size and complexity.
Becotte said they had asked to be able to hold a media scrum inside the legislature due to the very cold temperatures but were denied access.
“They politely told us we could meet out on the step,” Becotte said.
“It just shows how broken the relationship is between government and teachers.”
Yetman said it was astounding that the province wasn’t willing to discuss workloads and class complexity.
“Collective agreements across this country include language on workload, class sizes and class composition; and yet, the collective agreement in this province contains no such language. This is unacceptable,” Yetman said.
Cockrill said issues around class sizes are best dealt with by local school divisions.
“That is a line in the sand for government that we’re not going to be moving on,” Cockrill said Tuesday.
He claimed that what the teachers are asking for is taking that decision away from school divisions.
“We have 27 locally elected school boards for a reason. If we’re going to put management issues like classroom size and complexity in a bargaining agreement, why have school boards?”
Cockrill admitted that there were challenges in classrooms across the province but said there needs to be that local school board autonomy.
To help teachers weather the cold in Regina, one homeowner opened his door to those who need to warm up.
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Wybo Ottenbreit-Born is an elementary school teacher in Regina who has been working as a teacher in the province for 20 years.
“Community is very important, and something that I love about Saskatchewan and Regina is that there are so many community minded people here and we look out for each other,” Ottenbreit-Born said.
He said the strike was happening close to his home, and while he knew there were warming buses made available there were no washrooms for teachers to access.
“I trust the kindness of people.”
He said this strike was important, noting that there needed to be some change in Saskatchewan.
Global News took to the streets of Saskatoon and asked a couple residents how they felt about the teacher strike.
Ronan Cossette said everyone knows that schools are overcrowded with students right now.
“They seem to be underpaid and need extra support, and should have it from the government,” Cossette said.
“Their ratio is wild. I work with kids as well, and our ratio is one staff to every three kids.”
There have been reports of some classroom sizes in Saskatchewan getting as large as 40 kids for one room.
Cossette said he would like to see a situation where that ratio for teachers is lowered.
Bill Demontigny said he has three teachers in his family and that he knows what they are going through.
“I’m not sure our government’s doing what they should be doing for us and our children,” Demontigny said.
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