Saskatchewan teachers begin voting on contract offer

The ongoing dispute between the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) and the provincial government could end Friday.

Throughout Wednesday and Thursday, education workers will vote on whether or not to accept what the province says is their final offer.

In a social media post from the STF, they said just two hours after voting opened, over 45 per cent of members had cast their vote.

STF president Samantha Becotte said the vote comes with mixed emotions.

“On one side, I have never experienced so much pride in my life,” she said. “Teachers have shown up in a way that I could have never expected them to. These sanctions that we have been taking have been extremely difficult. And through that, they continue to show up. They continue to push for more for themselves and their students that they are trying to support.

“On the other side of things, it is extremely frustrating and extremely disappointing that we are even at the point that we’re at right now,” Becotte went on to say. “Government intransigence has brought us to this point, but it didn’t have to be this way.”

Contract negotiations between the STF and the province started in May 2023, before coming to a head in January 2024 when teachers began to strike, demanding a better offer.

“We’d all love a little bit more certainty,” Becotte said. “But with that certainty, we need to know that it’s going to improve the experiences of students and not continue to see more of the same challenges.”

The STF is calling for issues like classroom size and complexity to be addressed in a new agreement and the province is saying those issues fall under school board jurisdiction

Multiple one-day strikes took place after negotiations fell through, before rotating strikes, cutting lunchroom supervision, extracurriculars and work to rule.

On April 18, the final offer was brought forward by the province.

When asked if she feels the province has bargained in good faith, Becotte said from day one the province has not been open to meaningful discussions.

“We saw billboards come up in July framing teachers as greedy,” she said. “That’s not good faith negotiation. There’s never been a genuine back and forth on any of the proposals that teachers have brought forward to have addressed.”

At an event held by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce earlier this week, Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe alluded to potentially extending the school year if teachers reject the offer.

“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.

On Wednesday, education minister Jeremy Cockrill said if the contract is voted against, and further job action is taken, the school year could be extended.

“It’s our responsibility to ensure that Saskatchewan students receive the instructional hours required under legislation,” Cockrill said. We’ll work with school divisions to understand what has been missed and how we account for that.”

“We’ll see what comes from the ratification vote and go from there.“

The proposed three-year contract teachers are voting on includes three per cent salary increases in years one and two, 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 to the Saskatchewan School Boards Association would benefit students — would be followed and honoured.

Voting closes at 6 p.m. Thursday.