Sask. teachers announce another week of job action, education minister teases announcement

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) has announced it will continue job action next week, as the government continues to tout "record" spending in its 2024/2025 provincial budget.

Teachers across the province will withdraw from extracurricular participation for all of next week, while some divisions will see teachers withdraw noon-hour supervision on Monday.

Saskatchewan teachers have been without a contract since August and bargaining on a new contract remains at a standstill.

Both sides of the labour dispute refuse to budge on the issues of class size and complexity.

Finance Minister Donna Harpauer told CBC's Saskatoon Morning this week that any discussion with the STF has been difficult.

"The challenge that we're having with the Teachers' Federation is we feel that they should go to the bargaining table and have the discussions, but they are not defining clearly what it is exactly they want," she said. 

STF president Samantha Becotte told media that's not true during a news conference Friday. She said teachers have been clear that the sticking point is class complexity and class size.

Becotte declined to provide numbers, but said teachers are flexible and the government knows what they want.

"Those items were all presented in detail at the bargaining table," said Becotte.

"We've said we recognize Saskatchewan is diverse and we want to find a solution that works for all areas of Saskatchewan."

The STF has said it will return to the table if the government agrees to negotiate on these issues or go to binding arbitration on them. The organization also said job action will escalate if the government continues to refuse to negotiate. 

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill told CBC after the budget's release that he continues to believe class complexity and class size are best dealt with by individual school boards. 

On Friday, Cockrill released a statement saying he is disappointed with the STF for continuing job action. 

"If the union leadership wants teachers to be a part of that process, they need to stop focusing their efforts on disrupting learning and cancelling activities, and start focusing their efforts on bargaining," said Cockrill.