Teachers and province of Saskatchewan resume talks, minister wants binding arbitration

REGINA – A day after Saskatchewan teachers narrowly rejected the province's latest offer for a new three-year contract, teachers and the government are resuming negotiations.

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation said in a news release Friday that collective bargaining negotiations will resume on Wednesday. There will be no industrial action during the negotiation period.

Earlier on Friday, Saskatchewan's Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said he wanted to conclude the agreement through binding arbitration. The teachers said they were prepared to take this option.

Cockrill told reporters that binding arbitration would allow students to complete their studies and graduate without any problems.

“We want to make sure (graduation ceremonies) happen as usual. Students are excited about it, families are excited about it, teachers are excited about it,” he said.

“We believe binding arbitration is the best way forward now to ensure we can provide clarity to everyone, including teachers.”

Samantha Becotte, the president of the teachers' union, said on Friday that she wanted to have the opportunity to negotiate another deal before considering binding arbitration.

“We want to continue to give teachers the opportunity to have the final say in negotiations,” she said.

“We are united in the fight to ensure that public education becomes and remains a priority for this administration.”

Binding arbitration would remove negotiations from both sides and leave the contract to a neutral third party to settle.

In March, the association asked for binding arbitration over classroom issues, including the need to treat violent students and help others who need additional support. At the time, Cockrill rejected the idea, saying further negotiations were needed.

On Friday he said he believed sufficient progress had been made.

“We reached a preliminary agreement that (the government and association leadership) agreed to, and I think both sides left the negotiating table satisfied with the agreement reached,” he said.

Teachers and the province have been arguing about a new contract for almost a year.

To pressure the province to consider their demands, teachers have gone on rotating strikes and withdrawn their voluntary participation in lunch supervision and extracurricular activities. A provincial basketball tournament, known as Hoopla, was subsequently cancelled, but a smaller one-day version of the event went ahead.

Negotiations resumed in mid-April and the province presented its first offer. Teachers overwhelmingly rejected it, saying not enough had been done on teaching issues and salaries.

In May, the two parties met again and the province submitted a second offer, which was approved by the association's leadership. It was rejected this week by 55 percent of voting members for the same reasons.

Becotte said the association was ready to renegotiate to find out what else could be added to the agreement.

“We have many different proposals for what this could look like, but we need partners who are willing to come to the table and have these conversations with us,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2024.

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press