Teachers, province to conciliation
Contract talks between teachers and the provincial government are headed to conciliation after the parties failed to make meaningful progress on two key issues at the bargaining table.
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation declared an impasse last week and asked the provincial Education Relations Board to establish a three-member conciliation board to attempt to resolve the dispute.
The STF and the government remain far apart on compensation, and they are entrenched on whether a mechanism to ensure classrooms are adequately resourced will be included in the teachers’ next collective agreement.
While the STF maintains that is the only way to address class size and composition issues, the government insists doing so would create “chaos” and has launched a parallel process to address what both sides agree is a problem.
Both sides have until Friday to
nominate someone to the conciliation board; after that, their nominees will nominate someone who will serve as chair, responsible for attempting to guide the parties toward a resolution.
While the STF expects four days of hearings, timing depends on the still-to-be-named chair’s availability.
The process can result in a tentative agreement, further negotiations between the parties, or no meaningful progress.
Conciliation has been used, with varying results, in previous rounds of negotiation.
In an unusual move STF’S president says was intended to ensure both sides made reasonable offers, it committed to make bargaining details public — and the provincial government has followed suit with its own updates.
What has emerged shows deep divisions between the two sides.
The government is offering teachers a $1,500 cash bonus funded from their health plan, plus two per cent raises in 2020 and 2021; the STF wants a two per cent raise in 2019, followed by three per cent wage hikes in 2020 and 2021.
Both sides have dug in their heels on class size and composition, with the STF refusing to participate in the government process and saying its members won’t be “bought off” with a generous salary issue.
Education Minister Gord Wyant has said the government committee,
which also has been panned by the Saskatchewan NDP, will proceed without teacher involvement and aim to have a solution before the next budget.
That position is understood to be a significant test of teachers’ resolve.