Sask. teachers vote 95% in favour of renewed job sanctions mandate

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Saskatchewan teachers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of extending a job sanctions mandate that was set to expire at the end of the school year.

Voting closed Thursday at 6 p.m. Of the 83 per cent of members that voted, 95 per cent “supported further sanctions, if needed,” the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) said in a news release.

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“We welcome the resumption of negotiations this week, and we are optimistic that teachers’ decisive rejection of the government’s contract offer, and this renewed sanctions mandate, will serve as a wake-up call,” STF president Samantha Becotte said in the release, which was issued shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday.

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The current mandate, which garnered a 95-per-cent vote in favour of job action back in October, was on track to expire on June 30.

The STF has said a new mandate will remain in place until an agreement on a contract is reached.

“For reasons that are beyond understanding, the Government of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association seem committed to dragging this process out as long as they can, leaving students, teachers, families and the education sector in limbo,” Becotte said earlier this week.

The results show teachers are ready and willing to implement more job sanctions if the government-trustee bargaining committee (GTBC) “once again refuses to bargain in good faith, said Thursday’s release.

While a new mandate gives the STF the ability to impose new sanctions, Becotte has said whether they actually do depends on how the province responds.

Following informal talks between the GTBC and the teachers’ bargaining committee on Monday and Tuesday, the STF announced negotiations were to resume this week in Saskatoon.

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In Thursday’s news release, the STF says it met with the GTBC on Wednesday and Thursday, and both sides have agreed to meet again on Friday.

The STF said it would not comment “while contract negotiations are taking place,” and that an update would be provided to the media “when appropriate.”

“In the event of another impasse, 48-hours’ notice will be given before the implementation of further job sanctions,” Thursday’s news release noted.

Since negotiations began one year ago, teachers have pushed for mechanisms to address issues like class size and complexity to be included in the new contract, the release continued.

“The results of these votes demonstrate teachers’ resolve to secure a new agreement that addresses the problems students and colleagues are facing in schools,” Becotte said.

“We are united in our efforts to achieve it.”

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