Sask. teachers return to the picket lines
Members of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) hit the picket line on Thursday in the first of a series of one day strikes.
The job action involved 3,000 teachers’ association members and affected classes for roughly 35,000 students in communities across the province, including Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and North Battleford.
Jean-Marc Belliveau, president of the Prince Albert Teachers’ Association, says the STF is fighting for properly funded education.
“We’re doing this so the government starts listening, this is our third round and we just want what’s best for students and what’s best for schools,” Belliveau said.
The STF has threatened to engage in job action until the Saskatchewan government agrees to discuss classroom sizes and supports for students with complex needs at the bargaining table.
This is the third strike by Saskatchewan teachers in three weeks. More than 13,000 teachers walked off the job province-wide for one-day strikes on Jan. 16 and Jan. 22.
Tim Strom, a parent and teacher in Prince Albert, expressed his concern with the quality of education students are receiving because of larger class sizes.
“My daughter has 38 kids in her English class,” Strom said. “Teachers struggle everyday just to get everything done and try to make education the best for every kid it could be and in order to do that there needs to be more funding.”
In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Education says the government is actively working to address concerns around class size and complexity.
The statement said a fair deal for teachers must also be a fair deal for taxpayers, and argued Saskatchewan taxpayers already contribute the most per capita to education in the country.
The ministry has consistently maintained that decisions around class size should be left to the local school divisions, even following a December meeting with a third-party conciliator that ruled the issue could be bargainable under Saskatchewan legislation.
Belliveau told CTV News he does not believe the government is following the proper negotiation and bargaining process.
“Going forward I would like to see the government come back to the table,” Belliveau said.
The province and teachers have been at a standstill since October following initial bargaining talks in May of 2023.
-With files from Drew Postey and Josh Lynn
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.