Teacher talks seem headed for impasse

Contract talks with the provincial government and school board trustees are “approaching ” an impasse over issues related to classroom size and composition, says the president of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.

Neither side can agree on whether a mechanism for ensuring sufficient resources are in each Saskatchewan classroom should be discussed at the bargaining table, much less what it would look like in a collective agreement. The STF maintains that such a mechanism must be in the next contract to ensure the government is accountable, while the province insists it has no intention of addressing the issue during negotiations, which are set to resume next week.

“If the government is truly committed, why isn’t it in the agreement?” STF President Patrick Maze said Friday in reference to the government’s idea of striking a committee to examine the issue outside the scope of collective agreement.

In a lengthy communiqué issued late Thursday, the STF expanded Maze’s remarks on the idea of “just another committee,” saying teachers’ past is “littered” with panels and discussion groups that failed to deliver on a mandate.

“To put it bluntly, the promise of yet another committee outside of the collective agreement is not a welcome response to the issue of adequate supports for classrooms,” the STF said in the document, its latest bargaining update.

Earlier this week, government-trustee bargaining committee chair Don Hoium said talks had not reached an impasse because productive conversations related to other items were still happening.

Hoium echoed Education Minister Gord Wyant’s position that policy matters need to be discussed at a “provincial table” but acknowledged that it was not clear how the ongoing dispute between the sides could be resolved.

“That’s a challenge for (Maze). There are many means to an end, and not everything is attained in one step,” Hoium said when asked how the STF could back away from its hard line position on including the issue in its next contract.

“Everyone at that table has their heart in the right place. It’ll be resolved at some point.”

The ongoing contract talks are expected to test teachers’ resolve after Maze said the STF’S 13,500

If the government is truly committed, why isn’t it in the agreement?

members would not be “bought off ” on the issue with a favourable monetary offer — which according to the STF has yet to materialize.

Both sides also remain far apart on the question of compensation.

The STF wants a three-per-cent raise this year followed by a pair of two-per-cent raises, while the government has offered a $1,500 bonus from the teachers’ health plan followed by raises of two per cent in each of the two subsequent years.

The GTBC has maintained that its offer — which comes after a twoyear contract that offered a raise of one per cent at the end of the second year — is “competitive” and "(honours) the hard work of teachers in our province.”

The teachers take a different view. In its latest update, the STF said the offer is “inadequate” and behind inflation, and noted that its members have “no interest in a single lump-sum payment, particularly one that is self-funded.”