$20M for class complexity added to Sask. teachers’ collective agreement

Twenty million dollars to address class complexity – the number of students in each class who require additional help beyond what teachers normally provide – has been added to the provincial collective bargaining agreement for Saskatchewan teachers by the arbitration board.

However, the decision on language for the class complexity provisions has been left to the teachers’ bargaining committee and government-trustee bargaining committee. If they cannot agree, it will go back to the board.

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“The collective efforts of so many people throughout the province brought attention to the issues facing Saskatchewan students. This is a hard-won first step to ensure these critical issues will be addressed,” Samantha Becotte, president of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, said in a statement.

“This decision is a decade in the making and will have a significant impact on students, teachers and the future of public education in Saskatchewan. I am endlessly proud of and inspired by the teachers and families of this province, and their efforts to improve learning conditions for students and working conditions for teachers.”

“Prior to this, the collective agreements of every teacher organization in Canada, except for Alberta and Saskatchewan, contain clauses directly addressing class size, class composition, and/or violence-free work environments,” the union noted in a news release.

Education Minister’s response:

650 CKOM reached out to the provincial government for a comment.

Education Minister Everett Hindley wrote, “We would like to thank the arbitrator for his work and are pleased that the report was largely in line with what was offered in the previous tentative agreement. We are looking forward to getting the agreement ratified and moving forward to working on common goals that create the best possible learning environment for Saskatchewan students such as improving k-3 literacy in Saskatchewan schools.”

President of Saskatchewan Teachers Federation’s response:

Samantha Becotte, president of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation called the Arbitration Board’s decision “historic.”

“I’m feeling incredibly excited,” she said at an online press conference on Tuesday.

“I know this has been something that teachers have been working towards for the last 10 years.”

Becotte said she looks forward to seeing how the extra funding will improve conditions for both teachers and students in Saskatchewan.

The funding will be used to hire additional teachers and enhance support for rural classrooms.

Although there is just one year left on the current contract, Becotte said it’s the first step toward improving classrooms across the province.

“The article around classroom complexity provides us a clear direction that it can be negotiated,” she said.

“We’ll be talking with teachers to look at what may be future steps that are brought forward in future rounds of negotiations.”

Contract talks:

The binding arbitration hearing between the teachers’ bargaining committee and the government-trustee bargaining committee concluded on December 18. At that point, the arbitration board took the evidence presented from both sides and used it to determine the terms of the new contract for teachers in Saskatchewan.

“Teachers have been awarded an increase of 9 percent over three years: 4 percent retroactive to September 1, 2023; 3 percent retroactive to September 1, 2024; and 2 percent as of September 1, 2025,” the federation added.

Contract talks between Saskatchewan teachers and the province began in June 2023, then stalled by October 2023.

During the last school year, there were a series of rotating strikes, work-to-rule sanctions and intermittent negotiations with the provincial government. Two contract offers that were ultimately rejected. Class complexity, class size and salary were the main sticking points for teachers.

In mid-June, the teachers’ union agreed to binding arbitration. The following month, both sides agreed to nominate Danish Ish, former University of Saskatchewan law professor and dean of the College of Law, as the arbitrator.

Each side selected one other panel member to make up the board. The federation chose retired Saskatoon Public Schools teacher and principal Dawn Harkness as its nominee, while the provincial government chose Greg Chatlain, former Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools director of education.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Mia Holowaychuk