Unified rejection of contract indicative of `a decade of frustration': professor
The thorough rejection of the province's latest contract offer puts teachers in a “very strong” position at the bargaining table, according to one political science expert.
“It was a calculation by STF leadership to test the membership, to see where they're at in regards to the state of bargaining,” said University of Saskatchewan associate professor Charles Smith on Friday.
A whopping 92.2 per cent of members voted over a two-day period this week on a proposed contract from the government-trustee bargaining committee (GTBC). An overwhelming 90 per cent voted not to accept the offer.
Smith says the move was a clear success, proving the STF'S executive has “a pretty good finger on the pulse of what their membership was thinking.”
“When we see these types of numbers, it would suggest that government can't turn around and say, this is the `big bad union' making this decision,” Smith said.
The offer on the table was presented by the GTBC in April, and laid out an eight-per-cent salary increase over three years.
It also conceded to the STF'S request to include mention of a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) that earmarks $53.1 million for classroom complexity annually over the next four years.
Smith said it wasn't surprising to see teachers reject the offer, given the temperature of the back-andforth between government and the STF that led to this point.
“I think that's the real foundation of this entire debate,” said Smith. “That government, for all of its policy shifts, has clearly not moved the needle on key issues like classroom size, complexity, wages.
“On top of that, there's bad blood that has certainly percolated beneath the surface over how government has handled this dispute in public.” Many of the tactics used by the province over the last several months could toe the line of bad faith bargaining, Smith added, including a billboard campaign last summer and comments from Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill that suggested the state of bargaining is a symptom of “union leadership.”
There's history at play, he said. The STF first raised the issue of classroom complexity as a concern during bargaining in 2017, and then in 2019, and is now again prioritizing it as a contract item.
And while the added reference to the MOU could be seen as a small step forward, the salary offer in the proposed contract ended up closer to the GTBC'S original proposal of seven per cent over three years. The STF'S opening ask was 12 per cent over four years plus annual inflation.
“There's a decade of frustration at the bargaining table,” Smith said. “I think this is indicative of an entrenched bargaining position that has failed.”
With the potential for a fall election in the horizon, Smith said its arguable government may have to consider changing strategies in order to end the dispute before any campaigning begins.
“You don't want a mobilized, well-informed group of workers standing up and saying this entire policy area, the second largest expenditure in the provincial budget, is not working and is failing,” he said.