An optimistic tone between the province and the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation after they finalized their most recent collective bargaining agreement.
"There were obviously, I think, lessons learned by both sides," said Minister of Education and Swift Current MLA Everett Hindley. "I don't think either side would want to have a long-protracted type of a dispute like we had this past time. I think people were all across the board starting to get frustrated with how long this was taking and just wanted to see an end to it. We want to be able to move forward in a positive fashion and make sure that when it's time to renegotiate the contract next time that we look back at what happened in this most recent negotiation process, take the positives from that and really build on it and hopefully be able to reach an agreement much, much sooner."
The last deal between the province and STF expired in September of 2023. Despite the importance of this negotiation, it appears the relationship between both parties is now in a better place.
"No one from our side of the table wanted this to be the length of the process that we've experienced," said STF President Samantha Becotte. "But teachers were driven by the critical need to have their working conditions and our student learning conditions improved. We were really fighting for public education and for the students in Saskatchewan.
"Looking forward, I do see some optimism as well. I know the relationship that I've started to establish with the Minister of Education has been much more positive and looking to have those respectful, collaborative conversations. Of course, we're not always going to agree on everything, but being willing to take the voice of teachers into consideration... is something that we see as important to show the respect of teachers as professionals. I'm hopeful that over the course of the next year, we can continue to build that collaborative relationship."
The new agreement only runs until August 31st, 2026. The deal was finalized last week when both sides agreed to language around the class complexity piece mandated by the Arbitration Board.
The STF said in a statement that the agreement includes a class complexity fund of $20 million per year and provisions to hire additional teachers to help address issues of class complexity. They estimate that could lead to 500 new teaching positions.
Classroom complexity is something the STF expects will continue to be on the bargaining table in the future.
"Once something is included in the provincial collective bargaining agreement, it stays in the agreement unless there's mutual agreement through negotiations to remove something," Becotte said. "This has been something that teachers have fought for over a decade now. I can't see it being something that they're going to easily accept to remove. I know I've heard comments from school board trustees and from the Minister of Education who characterized this as a win for students. I can't imagine them coming forward now with a proposal to take something like this out. Let's look at ways of how we can improve this to ensure all students get the support that they need."
Hindley was more focused on what adjustments they would make in the meantime.
"We'll see what happens in the next round of negotiations," he added. "I would say even between now and then we're going to continue as a government to do work in this area. Whether it's the expansion of the specialized support classrooms pilot, the numbers and the targets that we have set, the work that's being done around a student assessment, the work that's going to be enhanced around K to three literacy, I think these are all important components.
"I would say outside of the contract and the collective bargaining process, we're going to continue this work and continue to consult with teachers and other professionals in the classroom with school board trustees, with administrators in the school divisions and most importantly, families and students about how do we just continue this positive work moving forward. Realizing that this isn't an end point, we need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep building upon our education system to make it as best as we possibly can for our students."
Becotte noted they are pushing school boards to begin the work to adjust teacher pay to the language of the new agreement as soon as possible.