Arbitrators say class complexity to be part of Sask. teachers contract: STF

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An arbitration board has ruled that class complexity will be included in a new collective bargaining agreement between the provincial government and teachers, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) announced.

“The collective efforts of so many people throughout the province brought attention to the issues facing Saskatchewan students. This is a hard-won first step to ensure these critical issues will be addressed,” STF president Samantha Becotte said Tuesday in a news release.

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The two parties agreed in June to pursue binding arbitration, after a year of bargaining standoffs and significant job action on the part of the teachers’ federation.

The panel, appointed in July, considered the issues of wage and the much-disputed class complexity framework at the crux of the bargaining parties’ year-long impasse.

Measures to address class complexity as a workplace condition was a keystone in the STF’s demands, which the government-trustee bargaining committee (GTBC) held firm were not to be included in a labour contract.

“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,” Becotte said.

“I am endlessly proud of and inspired by the teachers and families of this province, and their efforts to improve learning conditions for students and working conditions for teachers.”

In its decision, the arbitration board directed the teachers’ bargaining committee (TBC) and the GTBC to agree on language for the class complexity provisions, the STF said, adding that if the two sides cannot agree, it will be be referred back to the arbitration board.

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“We welcome the chance to work with the GTBC to finalize this important language,” Becotte said.

“We appreciate the dedication and professionalism the board demonstrated throughout this process.”

Teachers had previously rejected two contract offers from the GTBC in the spring, the first by more than 90 per cent and the second by 55 per cent of membership, before agreeing to binding arbitration.

The last offer on the table included an eight-per-cent salary increase over three years, plus a one-per-cent market adjustment, a task force on classroom complexity and a grievable accountability framework for a promise from the provincial government for classroom complexity funding.

The additional $18 million per year in targeted funding was offered via a memorandum of understanding outside the collective agreement, endorsed by the Saskatchewan Schools Boards Association during negotiations.

Daniel Ish, formerly a University of Saskatchewan law professor and dean, was appointed as the arbitrator in the fall. Alongside Ish on the panel was STF nominee Dawn Harkness, a retired Saskatoon teacher and principal and now sessional lecturer, and GTBC nominee Greg Chatlain, former director of education for Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools.

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Both the STF and GTBC presented arguments for their respective positions to the panel over three days in December.

Ish’s ruling will be included in a final collective agreement, which will be legally binding for both parties. Teachers will not be voting on the collective agreement.

The last time binding arbitration was used to resolve a contract dispute was in 2018, as an end to negotiations that began in 2017.

— With files from Alec Salloum, Angela Amato and Larissa Kurz

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