Conciliation report says teachers can negotiate class complexity: STF

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) is hoping it’s one step closer to reaching a deal with the provincial government after a conciliation report on the collective bargaining.

In October, teachers voted overwhelmingly in favour of sanctions after the STF declared an impasse in negotiations.

STF president Samantha Becotte said the report acknowledged that teachers have the right to negotiate class complexity, but it did not label it as an official recommendation.

“The board agrees (with) what teachers have been saying for the last 10 years: They have a right to negotiate their working conditions,” Becotte said.

She added that teachers in Quebec and Ontario have reached tentative agreements that include class size and complexity.

“There are some items, because we were so far apart within our two positions on the bargaining team, that (the conciliators) weren’t able to provide a recommendation for,” said Becotte.

Some of the items that were not recommended were substitute teacher working conditions, principal and vice-principal allowances and conditions of employment.

Teachers are to give 48 hours’ notice if job sanctions come into effect.

Jeremy Cockrill, Saskatchewan’s minister of education, spoke with guest host Taylor MacPherson on The Evan Bray Show about the conciliation report.

“From the conciliators’ report, I really took away that both sides need to keep talking,” said Cockrill.

Cockrill said he and Becotte both agree that class complexity is a big issues teachers are facing. On Monda, the province announced it was launching a pilot project in eight Saskatchewan school divisions to test methods of managing behavioural incidents in the classroom.

“We actually want to take steps to address it,” said Cockrill. “That’s exactly what we are doing with this pilot is trying something real. It’s aiming to expand it.”

Cockrill said class complexity was left off the bargaining table because the provincial government believed the best decisions would come from local school boards.

Teachers’ salaries also are a sticking point in the negotiations.

“I think that we are fairly far apart on compensation, which is disappointing,” said Cockrill. “We’ve put forward what we believe is a fair deal for teachers.”

In July, the government put up billboards claiming that Saskatchewan teachers are among the highest-paid in Western Canada with average salaries of $92,000 per year.

The teachers’ union immediately called the billboards’ message misleading, maintaining it takes 10 years before the average Saskatchewan teacher makes $92,000 year.