New Five-Day Countdown to Teacher Job Action

With the Government of Saskatchewan still refusing to give their bargaining committee a new mandate to negotiate on key issues, Saskatchewan teachers are beginning a new five-day countdown to further job action. If government does not get serious about true negotiations and change course, the next job action will begin on Monday, January 22. Specific information related to this job action will be shared no less than 48 hours prior.

“The Minister of Education says that issues like class size and complexity are best dealt with locally. We agree, but local boards cannot address these issues when they are dealing with a decade of budget cuts and drastic underfunding from the provincial government,” said Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation President Samantha Becotte. “We cannot solve these issues with more committees or one-off pilot projects in a small fraction of our schools. We need irrefutable commitments and long-term funding, and our best option to hold government accountable is through our collective agreement. The Conciliation Board agrees that these are bargainable items. Yesterday, Canadian Teachers’ Federation President Heidi Yetman shared that many provinces have negotiated class size and complexity articles, so this is not a novel or new idea.”

Saskatchewan people are making their voices heard, but government continues to ignore the growing concerns of parents, families, students and teachers. In less than a week, over 11,000 emails have been sent to Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill and Premier Scott Moe, encouraging them to get back to the table and bargain in good faith. This is in addition to over 7,700 people who joined STF’s public rally and mini rallies across the province, over 3,300 letters that were delivered to the Legislative Building in Regina yesterday, and numerous supporters online and in person at demonstration sites in dozens of Saskatchewan communities on January 16.

“I want to thank everyone who showed solidarity and support yesterday, including businesses, churches, labour unions, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation and other teachers’ organizations nationwide, frontline workers, community members, parents and countless others who joined our lines,” said Becotte. “How long can government ignore their voters? We are ready to work together, negotiate and find solutions whenever the government is willing to actually bargain – day or night. Teachers are taking action for students, and we need our government to do the same.”

Supporters are encouraged to sign up for Tell Them Tuesday to take part in advocacy actions and help bring government back to the table with a new mandate for bargaining.