YORKTON – Hundreds of people lined Broadway Street in support of Sask teachers March 20.
Teachers from the Good Spirit School Division and Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division once again took to the streets in the latest of several one-day strikes and comes at the behest of the Sask Teachers' Federation.
The one-day province-wide strike is a result of the “government’s unwillingness to work with teachers in finding any path forward," in regard to the ongoing contract negotiations, according to a quote from STF President Samantha Becotte, taken from the federation's website.
The strike is coupled with the teachers' two-day withdrawal of extracurricular activities on March 21 and March 22. The withdrawal from activities will effect two events scheduled to take place this weekend, including the provincial high school basketball championships in Moose Jaw and the Optimist Band Festival in Regina.
"I still hold on to hope that the two sides will find a way to get together and figure all of this out because it's impacting students' education, it's impacting students' [extracurricular] and nobody who's walking on this street right wants that to happen," told Quinn Haider, Principal at St. Paul's School in Yorkton, in an interview with SaskToday.ca.
"What we want is everybody who's got the power to bring this to a conclusion — we want them to get together sit down and figure it out," added Haider.
The one-day strike coincides with the announcement of the provincial budget. More than 4,000 teachers are expected to protest at the Legislative Building in Regina with hundreds more taking part in demonstrations across the province, according to the STF.
