The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation says the Arbitration Board has determined that class complexity will be included as a new article in the Provincial Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation President, Samantha Becotte, describes the decision as a hard-won first step to ensure critical issues are addressed. She says, “This decision is a decade in the making and will have a significant impact on students, teachers and the future of public education in Saskatchewan.” The Federation says prior to this, the collective agreements of every teacher organization in Canada, except for Alberta and Saskatchewan, contain clauses directly addressing class size, class composition, and/or violence-free work environments.
Becotte says the decision from the Arbitration Board includes a class complexity fund of $20 million per year, which would be in addition to all other provincial funding. It also includes provisions to hire additional teachers to provide support for classroom teachers to address issues of class complexity.
The Board directed the Teachers’ Bargaining Committee and Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee to agree on collective agreement language for the class complexity provisions. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, it will be referred back to the Arbitration Board. A
Teachers have also been awarded an increase in salary of 9 per cent over three years: 4 per cent, 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively dating back to 2023.
Becotte calls it an historic decision for students, teachers and future of public education in Saskatchewan. She explains that they won’t have to re-negotiate on funding for classroom complexity in future contracts because once it’s in the contract, there has to be a mutual agreement from both the STF and the provincial government to remove it. “I’m pretty confident in saying that teachers aren’t going to be negotiating to remove this. We are very excited that this is going to be included, and we are going to start to see some improved supports in schools in a way that we can ensure that they are there year after year.” When it comes to fruition, this contract will be in place until the end of August of next year.
