Saskatchewan’s Education Minister says he is disappointed that 90 per cent of teachers voted against the latest offer from the government trustee bargaining committee, however he is open to returning to the bargaining table to make a deal that works.
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation has suggested the two parties return to the bargaining table this coming Monday and Tuesday, however Jeremy Cockrill did not confirm whether or not that will work on his end.
“I don’t want our committee to show up and then things end after 10 minutes or 15 minutes. I think everybody in the province wants to know that when we go back to the bargaining table that it’s going to be a productive discussion. I’d say there’s conversations happening on both sides to see how we can make that happen.”
The offer included an 8 per cent raise over three years and an MOU around class size and complexity, the main sticking point for teachers over the course of bargaining. On top of measures included in the discarded offer, Cockrill says the government also made several significant investments in K-12 education in the last provincial budget.
“A nine per cent increase in school operating funding, the largest increase we’ve seen in provincial history quite frankly. We’ve seen the multi-year funding agreement with these 27 school divisions to ensure that classroom supports funding stays at an absolute minimum over the next four years.”
Cockrill hopes to strike a deal to avoid any future job sanctions, as he says both teachers and students belong in the classroom.
“Even though they have been work-to-rule sanctions, instructional time has been affected in several divisions, and there’s going to be several divisions that won’t hit the 950 hours that are required in the legislation.”
He has previously alluded that this could mean a slightly longer school year, if necessary.
Cockrill says province remains committed to ensuring grade twelve students will receive graduation ceremonies regardless of any future job action from teachers.
The NDP says the vote results made it clear that Premier Scott Moe and Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill have lost the trust of Saskatchewan teachers.
NDP Leader Carla Beck says after a decade of underfunding and disrespect, teachers are beginning to stand up for themselves.
“We have students in cramped classrooms, students without the supports that they need, students that are sharing desks and textbooks. This is what teachers are fighting for.”
Beck says the government needs to get serious about addressing these concerns instead of vilifying teachers with billboard campaigns. She calls on Scott Moe to get back to the bargaining table and bring fair proposal that address class size and complexity.
