Sask. teachers announce second round of rotating strikes

Teachers in Saskatoon and in a number of northern school divisions will walk off the job in the second round of rotating one-day strikes.

“Government thinks they can wait us out, but they have failed to account for the most important factors. Teachers are fed up and are united,” Saskatchewan Teachers Federation President Samantha Becotte said in the announcement.

“There is strong and growing support for the action we’re taking because students, parents, businesses and communities know we all deserve better.”

On Wednesday, educators in Saskatoon, Warman, Creighton, La Ronge and many other communities in northern Saskatchewan will hit the picket lines.

The following divisions will be affected by the Feb. 7 strike, according to the STF:

• Creighton School Division
• Northern Lights School Division
• Prairie Spirit School Division
• Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools
• Saskatoon Public Schools

The strike action will include Conseil des écoles fransaskoises schools and Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre teachers who work at schools in the affected areas.

Approximately 4,300 teachers and 65,300 students will be affected by the latest strike.

“People are witnessing the crisis unfolding in public schools, and they are not being fooled by the government’s spin,” Becotte said in the announcement.

“We need the government to catch up with the people of this province. It is beyond time government returns to the table ready to actually negotiate so we can work together on real solutions.”

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In the announcement, the STF called on anyone concerned about the impacts of job sanctions and “the future of public education” to sign up for its Tell Them Tuesday campaign.

“Join tens of thousands of people from across the province and call on the Government of Saskatchewan and your local MLA to get the government’s bargaining committee back to the table with teachers,” the announcement read.

More than 13,000 teachers took part in the STF’s job actions on Jan. 16 and Jan. 22. The province’s first rotating strike on Feb. 1 involved approximately 3,000 teachers and affected around 35,000 students.

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.

Throughout the bargaining process, the province has touted the offer of a seven per cent salary increase for teachers over three years — advertising the offer on billboards and online ads.

Prior to the STF’s first strike action, the government announced a pair of short term pilot projects focused specialized support classrooms and funding teacher-suggested ideas to improve education.

The STF has repeatedly claimed the province is trying to circumvent the bargaining process with its actions and has pointed to other provinces where classroom composition and size measures are included in collective bargaining.

Teachers in Saskatchewan have been without a contract since August.

--With files from Josh Lynn.