Teachers hit picket lines Wednesday in Saskatoon as STF strikes continue

Parents in the Saskatoon area will be making extra child-care arrangements on Wednesday as teachers walk off the job and hit the picket lines in another one-day strike.

Wednesday’s strike includes teachers from Saskatoon Public Schools, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, Creighton School Division, Prairie Spirit School Division and Northern Lights School Division.

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation began holding rotating strikes last week, following a pair of one-day provincewide walkouts. The rotating strikes mean different divisions will picket on different days as the federation’s contract negotiations with the provincial government remain stalled.

Teachers picket during a single-day strike in Saskatoon on Jan. 16, 2024. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

Andrea Calow, a teacher at Bedford Road Collegiate, was picketing in Saskatoon on Wednesday. She said it feels good fighting for students again.

“I’m thinking about the future of our communities (and) of our province,” she said. “I think throwing a little bit of money at a huge problem is going to solve so many issues.”

Calow said the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation knows what it’s doing when it comes to the strike, and said she will stand by other teachers until “the good fight is done.”

June Anonson, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan was also in the picket line on Wednesday.

“These kids are our next generation of leaders, they’re our health-care leaders (and) they’re gonna be the ones running this country,” she said.

“I’m sad for our grandchildren. Our grandchildren need the best possible education they can get.”

The union has been pushing for stipulations around class size and classroom complexity – the number of students in a class that require extra support – to be built into its new contract.

While he’s acknowledged the issues in those areas, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill has so far been adamant that class size and complexity should be addressed at the local level by school divisions rather than being included in a new collective agreement.

Teachers are also seeking an annual salary increase of two per cent – plus the Consumer Price Index average annual rate – for four years. According to Cockrill, that adds up to a 23.5 per cent hike over the four-year period. The provincial government has countered with an offer of a seven per cent salary bump over three years.

Federation president Samantha Becotte has said the union will return to the table to resume bargaining once the government shows a willingness to bargain in good faith and amend its original position.

“Government has provided us with a take-it-or-leave-it offer,” Becotte told reporters this week, “and after nine months of negotiations and conciliation and job action from teachers, they have not engaged in any negotiations and remain firm on that opening offer.”

Meanwhile, teachers across Saskatchewan are preparing to withdraw noon-hour supervision on Thursday. Some divisions have already announced their plans for that day.

According to Becotte, supervision over the lunch hour is the responsibility of school divisions, and is voluntary for teachers.

“Government thinks they can wait us out, but they have failed to account for the most important factors. Teachers are fed up and are united,” Becotte said in a statement.

–with files from 650 CKOM’s Mia Holowaychuk