Teachers apply for binding arbitration
Negotiations between Saskatchewan’s 13,500 teachers and the province have stalled to the point where the teachers’ side applied for binding arbitration on Wednesday morning.
Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) president Pat Maze says the organization’s executive met last Friday and Saturday, where they agreed negotiations had hit an impasse, despite a negotiated contract being the preferred approach.
“Talks haven’t been going great,” he said, adding the province refused to discuss workplace issues that are “important to teachers.”
“The government seems to want to take a very narrow scope on what can be negotiated and what can’t be negotiated,” he said, adding that included certain items — like assignable work hours, duties of a teacher and workplace safety — that go “far beyond items of salary.”
“We’re not talking about cost items. We’re talking about clarification and items like that, that should be discussed and government doesn’t want to talk about it,” he said, confirming on the record what the Leader-Post had reported in November: That there has been “virtually no movement right from the start” in the talks between the two sides.
The current agreement expired on Aug. 31, 2017. In March, the STF opted for binding arbitration in the event of an impasse. An arbitrator’s decision would be final and binding for both parties.
Premier Brad Wall told reporters Wednesday that the collective bargaining process is what the government prefers.
The government seems to want to take a very narrow scope on what can be negotiated and what can’t be negotiated.
“We value and respect the collective bargaining process,” he said, hinting, and given his history likely foreshadowing, a cabinet meeting being held that would result in “interim support” for the education sector.
Whether negotiations are turned over to binding arbitration remains unknown. Although the teachers have filed the application, a review board needs to first determine whether or not the two sides are at an impasse.
In November, the Leader-Post reported on negotiations as they were taking place.
The government was proposing a 3.67-per-cent salary decrease, that comparable savings be found through reductions to employee benefit plans, or that a 3.5-per-cent cut in total compensation happen through a combination of reductions.
Teachers, meanwhile, were seeking a one-per-cent increase to the current salary grid, plus increases in line with the consumer price index; but there were signs nonmonetary proposals would take precedence over monetary ones — such as a teacher’s duties and how long a teacher works for, and including the definition of “teacher” being put into the contract.
Both parties were proposing a one-year contract; but at that time an impasse seemed almost inevitable.
At the time of that reporting, the STF accused the province of leaking confidential information related to the negotiations and expressed “deep disappointment.”
Provincial education funding saw a decrease of $55 million in the 2017-18 budget.
Earlier this week, the STF warned of more cuts to education in the 2018-19 budget, and the STF and Saskatchewan School Boards Association called for a renewed investment in education.