P.A. teachers and supporters line up on 15 St. East on the last one-day strike on Jan. 22 (Prince Albert and Area Teachers Association/Facebook)

By Derek Craddock

TEACHERS STRIKE

P.A. teachers back to the picket line as MLAs say a fair deal is on the table

Feb 1, 2024 | 6:00 AM

Saskatchewan teachers are, once again, on the picket lines as a series of rotating strikes begins Thursday.

Thousands of students are being affected at several school divisions in the province including all schools in the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division and Prince Albert Catholic Schools.

On Monday, the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) announced the rotating strikes saying the government left them no choice as they refuse to bargain on issues of class size and complexity.

“Teachers want to be in their classrooms supporting students, but government is making that untenable,” Becotte said. “Saskatchewan people have sent over 30,000 emails to government in less than three weeks – and these are just the emails we know of.”

In response to the job action, Prince Albert Carlton MLA Joe Hargrave, a member of the governing Sask. Party said it’s unfortunate teachers are striking, adding it only hurts students.

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“That’s not what anybody’s looking for and I think that it would be good if both sides just got to the table, sat down and got things worked out. That would be the best for parents and kids and everyone else.”

When asked about the ask to bargain on issues of class size and complexity, Hargrave reiterated what the education minister and finance minister have said before, that those issues should be left to school boards, not teachers.

“I don’t think that needs to be in a bargaining agreement, but the fact that it’s being looked at in the school system and the school boards can control that. I think that’s the positive way to go and that’s the right way to go,” he said.

“Ultimately, job action is the choice of union leadership,” said Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill before the STF made the strike announcement. “Unfortunately, we have union leadership at the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation that just does not want to come back to the bargaining table.”

Cockrill noted the province believes it had “a fair deal” on the table for teachers.

In an emailed statement to paNOW, Prince Albert Northcote MLA Alana Ross agreed with her Sask. Party counterparts that the province has presented what they believe is a fair deal to teachers. Ross noted that the province has already invested around $53 million to school boards for enrolment, class sizes, complexity, a teacher-led innovation and support fund, and specialized support classroom pilot projects.

“A fair deal for teachers must also be a fair deal for taxpayers,” said Ross. “Saskatchewan taxpayers already contribute the most per capita to education in the country and right now the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation is asking for a salary increase of two per cent plus the Consumer Price Index each and every year, for four years. That amounts to a 23.4 per cent increase.”

“The GTBC (Government Trustee Bargaining Committee) remains at the table, ready to discuss competitive salary and benefits but cannot negotiate without the STF at the table as well.”

Other school divisions that will be affected by Thursday’s walkout are Living Sky and Light of Christ School Division and Horizon School Division.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com