Teachers from nearly 45 schools in the Prince Albert area gathered in the Corner Stone Shopping District during the first one-day strike on Tuesday. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff

Striking again

Sask. Teachers Federation announces second one-day strike for Monday

Jan 18, 2024 | 1:51 PM

The Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) has announced that teachers will be walking off the job once again next week.

In a news release sent Thursday, STF President Samantha Becotte stated that a second one-day provincewide strike will held on Monday, Jan. 22.

The move comes after a strike was held on Tuesday with the hopes of getting the government back to the bargaining table as no talks are scheduled between the two parties.

The first one-day strike saw thousands of teachers across the province brave the cold and hit the picket lines, but despite the overwhelming support from the public and from across Canada, Becotte said the Saskatchewan government refused to listen and engage in talks.

“The day after our first strike action, rather than acknowledging the outstanding efforts of teachers, the Minister [of Education] attempted to make it all about salary demands. If he had been paying attention, he’d know our job action was about so much more than that,” said Becotte. “We’re seeking long-term commitments from government on critical issues impacting students, including class size and complexity– not patchwork pilot projects that don’t fix the systemic issues in our schools.”

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Since announcing the first strike on Jan. 11, the STF said over 16,000 calls and emails have been sent to the Premier and the Education Minister using the Tell Them Tuesday advocacy tools.

“The support from parents, businesses and students has been overwhelming. I urge everyone to contact their MLA on Tell Them Tuesday and ask them to get back to the table and address class size and composition with teachers,” Becotte said. “This is not a novel idea; other provinces have taken this approach. If government continues down this path, student learning outcomes will suffer. Saskatchewan students deserve better than this.”

Becotte also highlighted that new data from the Ministry of Education showed that 75 per cent of school divisions in Saskatchewan experienced a three per cent increase in enrollment within the last school year, which is about 5,658 students. Meanwhile, teacher staffing numbers went down nearly two per cent in the same year.

“Our government’s own data shows ballooning enrolment in the majority of our school divisions, but teachers and other critical resources aren’t keeping pace with this growth,” added Becotte. “The math is simple: More students with fewer teachers means class sizes are growing. Students are facing long wait times for special support such as psychologists and speech-language pathologists. Others are simply falling through the cracks, despite the best efforts of teachers and school staff. There is simply not enough support.”

As a result of the strike, all schools on Monday will be closed.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com