The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) called on the Government of Saskatchewan Thursday to take down billboards that are part of a provincial campaign.
The STF called the billboard “misleading and ridiculous” and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“What a waste of time and money,” Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation president Samantha Becotte said. “They’ve proven once again they don’t really care about students and their learning environment and instead want to create division by suggesting teachers are the villains.”
The billboard, featured in several locations across the province, cries out “A Fair Deal for Teachers” and boasts of the seven per cent salary increase the government promised to hand Saskatchewan teachers over the next three years.
It also says that the increase would put the wage of Saskatchewan teachers above the Western Canada average.
“It has a message that it’s a fair deal for teachers but what is the underlying message of that?” Becotte said. “(The message is) this is less than inflation and we won’t value teachers enough to have the conversations at the table.”
Becotte said the misleading part is that the billboard doesn’t show an accurate representation of teachers’ wages.
“The average they are using isn’t accurate from the perspective we are seeing across the province,” Becotte said.
The billboard shows the average yearly salary of a Saskatchewan teacher to be $92,000 as of 2022. Becotte said that number should be closer to $60,000, which is a starting salary.
“That $92,000 mark, you need to have a Bachelor of Education degree and over 10 years of experience in order to get to that point in your salary,” Becotte explained. “This government is cherry-picking the data they are using to mislead and present an inaccurate position.”
Three meetings of collective bargaining have taken place between the STF and the government.
Becotte said they knew messaging would be coming out during the process but said the “ad attacks” are only focusing on a small part of the problem.
“We knew there would be messaging coming out but for it to come out this early and to only focus on such a small portion, it is meant to mislead the public,” Becotte said. “Salary is just one of the proposals we have within our proposal package, and it’s just meant to distract the public from the realities we are seeing in classrooms.”
Last week, Becotte said federation negotiators had been presenting data around class size and complexity to the provincial government, as well as the experiences of teachers, noting these are many of the same talking points that the federation has been bringing forward over the past year.
She said they’ve had trustees acknowledge that the complexity of classrooms has increased, but didn’t feel it was a bargaining issue.
In June, the federation noted that the $40-million funding bump for provincial school divisions was missing a zero.
“What is the cost that could be invested into kids and into public education or other public services that is being put towards these advertisements,” Becotte asked. “I’ve seen one estimate of $15,000 a month for a billboard.”
On Thursday, Global News received an emailed statement from the provincial government on the matter reading:
“The Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee’s (GTBC) proposed offer of 7 per cent over three years is a fair deal that recognizes the important work of Saskatchewan teachers. Saskatchewan teachers earn salaries above the average for teachers in western Canada, all while maintaining very competitive benefits including pension plan contributions, medical and dental plans, and sick leave provisions.”
The government said the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires next month and the GTBC will remain at the table to negotiate salaries and benefits.
“The current public information campaign will run in digital and static formats throughout the province over the course of the summer,” the email read.
– with files from Global News’ Brody Langager
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