Saskatchewan’s education minister says the province is looking forward to collaborating with teachers in their ongoing contract negotiations following the release of an arbitrator’s rulings on Tuesday.
Everett Hindley told CTV News on Wednesday morning he was thankful to see the arbitrator agreed with the province’s offer regarding salary increases and that they came to a decision on classroom size and complexity, which had been a major sticking point between the two sides.
The two parties agreed to binding arbitration in December, following an extended series of negotiations and rotating labour actions. The arbitrator settled some outstanding disputes, now the bargaining groups head back to the table to negotiate the language.
“The next part of this is kind of working through the finer details over the next number of days as the deal needs to be ratified, but working between both sides to try and hammer that language,” Hindley said.
A release from the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) on Tuesday revealed the arbitrator has ordered an additional $20 million in annual funding for classroom complexity, separate from current provincial funding.
The province and STF will need to agree on a framework surrounding that funding. If they can’t – it goes back to arbitration.
Salary increases for teachers will be nine per cent over three years – four per cent retroactive to Sept. 1, 2023, three per cent retroactive to Sept. 1, 2024 and two per cent starting Sept. 1 2025.
STF president Samantha Becotte said initial reaction to the increase in salary among fellow teachers has been positive, but understands that nine per cent may still fall short of their expectations.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hindley said the arbitrator’s rulings were largely in line with what was offered in the previous tentative agreement from the province.
“We’re looking forward to collaborating, making sure that we’re working in the best interest of students right across this province and I think all sides recognize that we do have some challenges. We as a government, we have put some significant dollars towards education over the number of years, that’s why we are getting into things about a renewed onus on K-3 literacy, on expanding the specialized support classroom pilot project as well,” he said.
Hindley also recognized that the $20 million dollar fund along with salary increases might raise the eyebrows of provincial taxpayers, and pointed to the provincial budget that will be tabled on March 19.
“In this current budget we had a record funding investment into the area of education. We want to continue to build upon that education sector and that includes on the capital side, as we said we are trying to address classroom size issues and some of the pressures we are facing,” Hindley said, adding those pressures are a good problem to have, since it means communities are growing.
-With files from Rory MacLean
