'STF didn’t have empathy for us': Parents, students question rationale behind Europe trip cancellation

Milla Lux and her classmates were supposed to pack up for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit London and Paris next week after a year of preparation and saving.

But just two days before they were to pack their bags, their hopes were dashed — the trip was cancelled due to the escalating job actions by teachers.

“It’s disappointing that the [Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation] STF didn’t have empathy for us,” the 17-year-old Bethlehem Catholic High School student told CTV News.

Although her trip was cancelled, Lux says St. Joseph’s High School students were permitted to go ahead with their planned Europe trip.

“When it comes to the Saskatoon Catholic school division I believe it was less than 12 teachers requesting exemptions,” Trevor Schiller a Saskatoon parent said.

“The STF represents 13,000 members and couldn't grant an exemption to 12 teachers, causing about 100 kids from three schools to be heartbroken,” he said.

Lux is one of a dozen Bethlehem students affected by the ongoing contract dispute between Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) and the province.

On Friday, STF announced more job action heading to Easter break with extracurricular activities being paused. Last week the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association (SHSAA) cancelled Hoopla 2024.

Schiller said his 17-year-old daughter has been working extra shifts and fundraising for almost a year but the recent announcement left her “devastated, heartbroken and in tears”.

“So much so we excused her from attending school for the rest of the week. It's not fair, really. The students and teachers did everything to follow the STF regulations and protocols to make this happen only to be denied by the STF. The students and their families saved and fundraised to pay for this on their own and now it's been taken away,” Schiller said.

He said the trip scheduled for Thursday was cancelled while those scheduled to leave on Friday are not impacted.

“It’s frustrating also to know that other schools were able to go,” he said.

STF president Samantha Becotte blames the provincial government for delaying to engage in the negotiations.

“We understand it creates a difficult situation and there have been other cases similar to this in other actions we have taken, too. So, looking at the music festival that occurred last week where it was over a series of days, [the] sanction impacted two of those days; some groups were able to travel and other groups weren’t,” Becotte said

“We don’t want any of these action to be happening, we want to be at the table negotiating … we need the government to stop delaying the process and engage in a back and forth with teachers so we can find a resolution,” she said.

Schiller says parents and teachers had several meetings and the teachers exhausted all possible options including submitting multiple requests for exemptions and seeking legal council for advice, but “all requests were denied by the STF.”

“Students on these trips are not getting listened to; they’ve continuously shut us down, ignored calls and messages, leaving us in fear and anger,” Lux said.

Lux said some students were going to the STF office in Saskatoon on Tuesday afternoon to “make them listen.”