Tentative agreement? Not so fast. Education minister and STF president have very different takes

Fortunate that we’re bringing forward a a final offer not a a real good faith tentative agreement where both sides have have agreed to the items within there and and if it if it isn’t ratified there is a potential of of continued action. It isn’t well I mean what we have here today is a is a tentative agreement. We have an agreement that came out of couple days of bargaining and I and I would say you know why. I’ve. I’ve been clear all along that the best deal is going to come from the bargaining table. And it was incredibly encouraging to to have our both of our bargaining teams spend a couple days at the bargaining table going to go and sit at a table and hear for no for another two days as we had previously experienced. Unfortunately, that is a majority of what occurred at the bargaining table with the GTBC. The GTBC was clear that what was being offered was their final offer. We pushed back several times and we heard it repeated. I I I do hope that this deal is ratified because I think that’s what’s best for for kids in this province is to move forward through this bargaining process. We have a good deal on on offer here and you know it’s an opportunity to ensure that our kids can be back in the classroom and back on the the track and field back on the track this spring and you know to to make sure that there’s no sanctions for the rest of the school year. Final offer included a three-year term with salary increases of 3% in the first year, 3% in the second year and 2% in the third year, as well as the one line that we have previously talked about, ensuring that the accountability framework would be honored and followed. In addition to that, outside of the collective agreement, there was an agreement to have a letter of undertaking signed by the Chair of the GTBC. This letter would contain items outside of bargaining that would address some of the proposals that teachers have brought forward. Unfortunately as we have talked about with concerns around items outside of bargaining with classroom complexity, anything within the letter of undertaking would be non biting and there is no dispute resolution process certainly. So I mean we don’t have the multi year funding agreement in the contract that was that was something that you know as government I wasn’t really, I wasn’t willing to go there. You know again certainly we we from the right from the beginning we believe that school divisions ultimately need the capacity to make important decisions around how resources are allocated. But I do think that there is an opportunity that that should be there for teachers to provide feedback directly to school board decision makers on how those resources are allocated. I think what the accountability framework will allow for that at a local level. And you know, looking forward to seeing how we can move forward with again, local teachers, school boards and government all working together to really improve education. Over the next couple of days we will be sharing more detailed information with Saskatchewan Teachers Federation members and we’ll be doing our due diligence in providing time for members to consider all of the facts with the situation and all of the facts within the offer to have their questions answered in order to help them make an informed decision about this offer. Teachers will have the opportunity to vote on May 8th and 9th. Certainly, I mean ratification. The ratification process starts now and you know I’m at the end of the day, that’s going to be up to the STF membership. I think we have a really good agreement on the table here.