Teachers, province continue war of words

REGINA In the wake of a recent arbitrator’s award that also noted a soured relationship between the provincial government and Saskatchewan educators, the two parties continued a war of words on Monday.

In a decision handed down late Friday afternoon, almost nine months after contract talks broke down, a labour arbitrator awarded the province’s 13,500 teachers a new two-year contract that will expire on Aug. 31, 2019.

“It is apparent ... that relationships are badly in need of repair,” read one part of the decision., which will see educators getting no retroactive raise for last year but a one-per-cent increase this year.

“Most importantly, given the vital roles played by teachers, local boards and government in sustaining the public education system, the parties urgently need to work on rebuilding two essential elements of any long-term relationship — mutual respect and trust.”

But if anything, relations continued to take a turn for the worse on Monday.

Education Minister Gord Wyant, responding to NDP Opposition criticism of teacher funding, charged that it wasn’t the province that left the bargaining table.

He reminded reporters it was the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) that elected to go through binding arbitration. The STF chose to enter the binding arbitration process in January, after contract talks reportedly stalled.

The province was reportedly unwilling to budge from its opening position: that teachers take a 3.67-per-cent wage decrease, find comparable savings through benefit reductions or accept a 3.5-percent cut in total compensation.

But Wyant told reporters Monday he had invited STF president Pat Maze back to the bargaining table, saying he was prepared to go to his colleagues in cabinet to seek a different direction.

“I think you can draw the conclusion I would have been asking for a different number (than the 3.67 per cent),” said Wyant.

It remains unclear when that discussion allegedly took place. In February, the province announced it would be unable to achieve the savings targeted through compensation reductions. At the end of May, Wyant told reporters it would be “safe to assume” teachers would receive a better offer than the proposed wage cut should they agree to return to the bargaining table.

Reached by phone late Monday afternoon, Maze shot back at Wyant, saying, “No way” was an offer made to him to return to the table.

Maze said he met with Wyant on May 2 and May 22, where he told

Urgently need to work on rebuilding two essential elements of any long-term relationship — mutual respect and trust.

the education minister it didn’t make sense the province was continuing to demand a 3.67-percent wage rollback when Finance Minister Donna Harpauer had publicly stated savings from that compensation target would not be achieved.

“There is absolutely no way that the wage rollback was ever taken off the table,” said Maze.