Sask. teachers renewing job action on Friday

Teachers in the Prince Albert and North Battleford regions are heading back to the picket lines on Friday, after bargaining talks stalled again on Monday.

The union representing Saskatchewan teachers and the province’s education minister traded dueling videos Monday evening, with each side accusing the other of walking away from the table.

When the timeline of negotiations was revealed on Wednesday and the competing claims were parsed, it appeared the government was the first to call it quits, belying its initial statements.

With negotiations again at an impasse, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) members from Prince Albert and North Battleford will restart the rotating strikes that began on Feb. 1.

According to the STF, teachers will hold demonstrations across the street from Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill’s office in North Battleford and outside the premier’s office in Shellbrook, located about 30 minutes west of Prince Albert.

The union says demonstrations run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Teachers across the entire province will withdraw noon-hour supervision on Friday as part of the job action.

“Although teachers often provide lunch break supervision, it is done on a voluntary basis,” the STF said in a news release on Tuesday.

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School divisions are responsible for providing supervision during lunch hour, and should make parents and caregivers aware of any operational changes due to the job action, the union says.

The STF and the Government Trustee Bargaining Committee (GTBC) first engaged in negotiations in May of 2023 before the teachers’ federation declared an impasse in October.

The main point of contention is the province’s refusal to discuss classroom complexity and size concerns at the bargaining table. A third party conciliation panel said in December that the issues could potentially be bargained under Saskatchewan legislation but did not offer a recommendation.

Minister of Education Jeremy Cockrill has repeatedly called the issue “a line in the sand” and has reiterated the government’s belief that those issues are best left to Saskatchewan’s 27 school divisions, while also offering additional funding for portable classrooms outside of the bargaining process.

-With files from Josh Lynn