STF president tells Gormley that union’s goal remains negotiated contract

The president of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation says she still wants to meet government negotiators at the bargaining table despite teachers voting overwhelmingly in favour of imposing sanctions.

Samantha Becotte spoke to Gormley on Monday morning, three days after teachers voted 95 per cent in favour of imposing sanctions.

“We are willing to go back to the table at any point, but (members of the government’s bargaining team) have to be willing to engage in real negotiations,” said Becotte.

Now that the threat of sanctions is in place, Becotte hopes it will put more pressure on the provincial government to come to an agreement. Sanctions could range from withdrawal of extracurricular supervision to a full-blown strike.

As of Monday morning, Becotte said the list of sanctions hadn’t been narrowed down because the union’s priority is to reach a negotiated deal before anything is imposed.

“Our goal is to get an agreement. Our goal isn’t to have any action that disrupts schools or disrupts students learning; we want to have an agreement,” she said. “But the government continuing to underfund education, that is creating a significant disruption to our schools and our students learning — and it needs to stop.”

A few weeks ago, the STF declared an impasse after the provincial government refused to negotiate on nine of 10 items put forward by the union.

“We are hoping that this shows the government how serious we are and how frustrated teachers are getting across the province, and their continual disrespect across the province,” she said. “Hopefully they come back to the table ready to have some real conversations about the big issues that teachers have been putting through bargaining.”

In 2020, the last time teachers voted in favour of job action, the STF saw similar voter turnouts over the same issues like class size and complexity. Becotte agreed that both years were similar.

“We continue to have a government come forward with no solutions for those big problems,” said Becotte.

On Sunday, thousands of teachers, students and parents attended an education rally in Saskatoon. Some questioned new rules to raise the Saskatchewan flag outside schools when flag poles cost $6,000 per pole.

An employment lawyer told Gormley on Friday that the pressure would be heaviest on parents and students if sanctions are imposed.

Becotte said the STF wants to come to an agreement with the provincial government so that students can have better lives in schools.

“We’ve given lots of options on how that could be addressed, but the government refused to have that conversation and they continue to refuse to make a real investment in students,” said Becotte, who noted the union has not met with a conciliator since the vote.