Saskatchewan Teachers Federation President Samantha Becotte. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME file photo)

By Susan McNeil

Tentative deal reached

STF, province reach tentative deal

May 17, 2024 | 2:01 PM

After more than a year of negotations, the provincial government and the Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation have reached a tentative deal.

Friday’s announcement came after three days of renewed talks that started Wednesday.

“This has not been an easy process for anyone involved, but we have arrived at a mutually acceptable agreement that will begin to respond to student’s needs,” said STF president Samantha Becotte in a digital news conference.

Last night, the STF announced that teachers had overwhelmingly voted in favour of renewing sanctions in the fall, should no deal be reached.

The week before, teachers rejected a previous offer by the province with a vote of 90 per cent.

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She said that the teachers saw some movement from the province and that provincial negotiators returned to table on Wednesday more willing to move on some issues.

Details are not being shared now, because the STF says it wants its members to vote and absorb the information first.

The voting will happen on May 29 and 30, following two town halls between the STF leadership and members on May 21 and 22.

“This agreement is being endorsed and recommended by the TPC and the STF provincial executive to our membership,” said Becotte.

She said that Jeremy Cockrill, Minister of Education, agreed that classroom complexity issues have compounded over the last 10 years and that the problems won’t be solved in one budget cycle or in one collective agreement.

A major sticking point in the negotiations has been guaranteed funding of classroom complexity (dealing with a variety of learners with different levels of need) and making sure funding is not given in one year, then pulled back in following years.

Teachers wanted funding written into the collective agreement that would ensure the funding remained intact for four years of the deal.

The province said it would give the money to the school boards instead and they could choose how to allocate the funding based in their needs.

Asked what changed in the negotiations, Becotte said that the strong votes by members sent a message to the government.

“Well, the 90% vote I think was a message to government that their final offer what had been phrased as a final offer hadn’t been sufficient,” she stated.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com