The Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee (GTBC) and the Teachers’ Bargaining Committee have accepted terms of settlement for a new provincial collective bargaining agreement for Saskatchewan teachers following conclusion of conciliation and receipt of the Conciliation Board Report.
“After working through the conciliation process, as a board we saw no possibility of agreement on any terms more favorable to either party,” said Andrew Sims Q.C., Chair Conciliation Board. “We believe the terms in the report represent the best agreement possible given the circumstances and the interests of all parties.”
The terms of settlement include a wage increase of 7.55 per cent over four years and a 0.25 per cent increase in government pension contribution rates to the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Retirement Plan effective July 1, 2016.
“After careful deliberations, members of the Teachers’ Bargaining Committee and STF Executive agreed with the conciliation board’s strong and unanimous advice to accept the terms of settlement,” said Randy Cline, STF Vice-President. “We determined that it was in the best interests of teachers to secure the resources leveraged by the conciliation process now.”
“The GTBC listened to teachers, developed a deeper understanding of the issues, and during the conciliation process we were able to respond to some of those concerns,” said Connie Bailey, Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee. “Having an agreement in place is important to the education sector and we are committed to working together for the benefit of all Saskatchewan students.”
The Ministry of Education, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association have also accepted the report from the Joint Committee of Student and Teacher Time that met between October 2014 and January 2015. The report addresses teacher time and workload intensification, however more work needs to be done and at the recommendation of the Conciliation Board the parties have also committed to the creation of a Task Force on Teacher Time.
The parties have also confirmed that, upon the establishment of a new regulatory body for teachers, any associated professional fees will be paid on behalf of teachers and school boards by the Ministry of Education in the first two years.
The Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee and the Teachers’ Bargaining Committee will be formalizing the terms of settlement into the new provincial collective bargaining agreement which takes effect immediately.
The parties acknowledged and thanked the members of the Conciliation Board for their commitment to helping the parties reach an agreement.
