Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation and the government-trustee bargaining committee have left their dispute in the hands of a special mediator. The two parties announced their agreement to enter into a third party dispute resolution process on May 31 as a result of a stalemate over wages.
Saskatchewan Teacher's Federation has been without a contract since August of 2010. The past month has been filled with attempts to address the impasse and as a result, have included a number of actions by the federation. Beginning on May 5, the teachers participated in a one-day study session. Further failure to come to an agreement during negotiations resulted in a two-day withdrawal of all services province-wide by teachers on May 25 and 26.
Teachers throughout the province left their respective schools, leaving the classrooms empty and the message clear. The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation represents 12,000 teachers in the province's publicly-funded schools. Those sanctions were the first province-wide withdrawal of services throughout the past 78 years.
Locally, that meant that all 38 schools across the South East Cornerstone division were closed for the two-day period. Classes resumed on May 27; however, the start of a withdrawal of voluntary services occurred on May 30. The withdrawal of voluntary services meant that teachers continued to provide professional services within school hours as set out in the Education Act, 1995; however, they did not participate in events scheduled outside of the school day.
While some students were concerned about provincial examinations and graduations, many stood up behind their teachers. The most prominent display of this was the "student strike" that took place in many parts of the province on Tuesday, May 24 and saw students leaving their classrooms to take a stand on Parliament Hill. The facebook and text-message generated student strike, also ensured that a number of students continued to stand by their teachers throughout the process as seen by their attendance at the Legislative Building on May 25 and 26.
Gwen Dueck, spokesperson for the Teachers' Bargaining Committee is pleased with the decision to go to mediation. "We are pleased that the government has finally heard the message of teachers. It is a positive step forward that the government has agreed to our request for independent third party intervention. The government has expressed their commitment to this process. Most importantly, they have also agreed to cease their negative advertising campaign as a demonstration of good faith. To show our commitment to the process, the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation has agreed to suspend all job action." Effective June 1, Saskatchewan teachers resumed all professional and voluntary services.
Premier Brad Wall said "We are very glad that we have the mediators now. We are glad the teachers came back to the table earlier this week. We moved our position. We moved off of our 5.5 and we are willing to move again. I just think there was an impasse. The teachers were at 16 percent or binding arbitration. But when everyone decided to move, was when we offered to assign a mediator. And we are very thankful that the teachers and the government trustee bargaining committee have agreed to that."
"We are hopeful that the mediator will do his work and report back to the cabinet. And he'll either say, I think I have a potential solution somewhere in the middle maybe, or he may not be able to come to that. But either way we will get a report and be able to move forward. The school year is protected and so are all the extra-curricular activities and that is very good news for students which this should really be all about."
The arbitration period was expected to start June 1. If a consensus between the parties cannot be achieved by June 10, the special mediator will prepare a report for the Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety and Attorney General. The report will include findings and recommendations from the mediator in an attempt to resolve the issues between the parties. The report is expected to be completed by June 30.
