Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) president Samantha Becotte says she wasn’t surprised teachers voted against the province’s latest contract offer.
When the results were released Thursday night, they showed 90 percent of teachers rejected the offer with a voter turnout of 92.2 percent.
“To me, this sends a very clear message that what the government had offered in its final offer was not enough, it was not enough in terms of protecting our working conditions and improving learning conditions for students,” he said. Becotte during an interview with CTV Morning. He lives Saskatchewan on Friday morning.
He added that in terms of compensation it was not enough.
“I hope the government gets that message and starts taking the process seriously.”
Becotte is expected to hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m. Friday; You can watch it live in the video player at the top of this article.
Voting closed for STF members on Thursday at 6 p.m. and results were posted around 7:15 p.m.
The province’s offer, referred to by the STF as the “final offer,” included an eight percent salary increase spread over three years: three percent each in years one and two and a two percent increase in the third. year, the last year of the offer.
Classroom size and composition, the issues most important to many teachers, were not part of the offer, as the province has said those issues are being addressed in an agreement signed with school divisions earlier this spring.
“I was hoping it would be a ‘no’ from the members, that’s what we’ve been hearing constantly, but I also know we have 13,500 teachers and we don’t always hear from everyone, so it’s a little uncertain before the vote what that silent proportion of our members is thinking,” Becotte said.
After the results were published, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said he was disappointed to see the vast majority of teachers were against the offer.
“The best deal will be reached at the negotiating table, and both sides must immediately agree to return to the table and avoid further sanctions that could jeopardize instructional time and important events for Saskatchewan students,” Cockrill said in a statement. send by email.
Becotte said they want to get back to the negotiating table as soon as possible and as soon as the government has a new mandate.
A voter turnout of 92.2 percent shows how committed teachers have been throughout the process, Becotte said.
“We had two town halls over the last week with over 7,000 members joining us in the afternoons for about an hour and a half. Members are committed. “They have been with us throughout the process and have taken important steps over the course of the last four months and want to see better outcomes for public education in Saskatchewan.”
The province’s teachers have been without a contract since August 2023, and the initial negotiation began a little less than a year ago. In October the teachers voted overwhelmingly in favor of taking labor measures. That job action began in January and included rotating one-day strikes, pausing supervision and extracurricular activities, and “working to govern.”
More to come…
— With files from David Prisciak and Caitlin Brezinski.