Teachers’ federation wants court to force province to fill vacancies on Educational Relations Board
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) has requested a court order that would compel the Government of Saskatchewan to fill vacant positions on the provincial body that oversees collective bargaining agreements.
The Educational Relations Board’s mandate, as outlined in the Education Act, is to authorize mediation services, arbitrate disputes and settle grievances. The board is supposed to be made up of two teachers nominated by the STF and two members representing school boards, as well as a chairperson nominated by the majority of board members. All nominations have to be confirmed by the provincial government through an order of council.
Despite the STF bringing forward its recommendations months ago, all five spots on the board are currently vacant.
STF president Patrick Maze said the situation is “unacceptable.” The STF represents more than 13,000 teachers and administrators in the province’s K-12 education sector.
Maze said the federation put names forward for the board earlier this year, and in March, they jointly submitted their suggestion for board chair with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association.
“We’ve had regular communication with the ministry in regards to reminding them to make those appointments, and now here we are eight months later, and we’re wondering why those appointments haven’t been made,” Maze explained.
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix requested an interview with a representative from the Ministry of Education about the STF’s concerns, but a statement was provided instead.
“The government values the productive relationship that has been established and maintained with the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation and we look forward to continuing our essential work together,” it read. “We are in the process of confirming appointments to the Educational Relations Board and expect this process to be completed shortly.”
Maze said the government has made hundreds of appointments through orders of council in recent months, and is unaware why appointments to this board have been delayed.
He said the organization is “confident” its request for a court order will be successful.
“Ultimately, it’s just forcing government to act on its ... legislative responsibility to make those appointments,” he said, saying they’ve sent letters on the topic to the ministry on “numerous occasions.”
“Each time, we’ve kind of been told: ‘We’re getting to it and that’ll happen.’ But here we are eight months later with hundreds of orders-of-council appointments being made, none to the education relations board.”
Without the board in place, the STF said there’s no way to guarantee the fair implementation and monitoring of collective agreements with teachers, Maze said.
He said the STF’s court action will bring the issue “to a head,” and shows the organization’s “frustration” with the government’s lack of attention to the matter.
Maze said the STF would be more than willing to withdraw the court application if the government take’s action.
“We’ve been waiting a long time and have been told that it’s a priority. Well, clearly eight months later, it’s not a priority, so that’s why we’ve had to take the steps we have,” he said. “In a perfect world, my preference is that government makes the appointments and this all goes away quickly.”