The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) is a

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representing schoolteachers in the Canadian province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. The organization's headquarters is located in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

History

The roots of the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation were planted in 1919, when a teachers' strike in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

—said to be the first of its kind in Canada—led to the establishment of a formal teachers' organization. In 1933, amidst the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, early teachers' groups disbanded and re-organized as the STF to create a provincial organization; STF organizers enrolled more than ninety percent of teachers. Then, in 1935, the Saskatchewan provincial government passed legislation requiring all teachers to be members of the organization.

Teachers' strike in 2024

In July 2023, negotiations between the STF and the Saskatchewan provincial government came to a standstill, with the STF criticizing the provincial government for its "lack of movement" on what they considered to be the biggest issues in the Saskatchewan education system: class size and complexity. Around the same time, billboards titled "A Fair Deal for Teachers" were put up by the provincial government around the province, with the government claiming that proposed salary increases would result in a salary larger than the average teacher's salary in

western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

Labour relations Labour relations in practice is a subarea within human resource management, and the main components of it include collective bargaining, application and oversight of collective agreement obligations, and dispute resolution. Academically, employe ...

expert Andrew Stevens said that he saw these billboards as an attempt to simplify the

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

process to a "simplified and convenient number" and to polarize the public. On October 27, 2023, a large majority of teachers in Saskatchewan voted in favour of job sanctions, with STF president Samantha Becotte saying that the province had refused to budge on certain matters and had shut down nine out of ten proposals during collective bargaining talks. The following year, in early January 2024, the union announced a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

, following a third-party conciliator report suggesting teachers and the provincial government "could bargain class size and complexity", something the government has insisted is not up for negotiation, preferring instead to focus on

compensation Compensation may refer to: *Financial compensation *Compensation (chess), various advantages a player has in exchange for a disadvantage *Compensation (essay), ''Compensation'' (essay), by Ralph Waldo Emerson *Compensation (film), ''Compensation'' ...

. The union had another strike on January 22, eventually leading to rotating teacher strikes. On April 5, 2024, the STF announced indefinite

work-to-rule Work-to-rule, also known as an Italian strike or a slowdown in United States usage, called in Italian a ''sciopero bianco'' meaning "white strike", is a job action in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their co ...

would begin the following Monday, meaning that all extracurricular activities and other voluntary work done by STF, such as noon hour supervision, would be withdrawn for the foreseeable future. On April 12, 2024, the union announced their plans to pause all job sanctions in the province after returning to the bargaining table. The union was offered a slight wage increase over the next three years and began voting in early May, but this received an overwhelming rejection from the teachers, with 90% of teachers of the union voting against the offer. On May 30, 2024, a slim majority of teachers rejected another offer from the province, with 55% voting against; this was after this second offer was endorsed and recommended by STF leadership. The offer included additional funding as well as the creation of a task force to address classroom complexity, but nothing explicitly addressing class size was included in the proposed agreement.

References

External links

* {{Primary and secondary school teachers' unions in Canada 1933 establishments in Saskatchewan Canadian Teachers' Federation Education trade unions Education-related professional associations Educational organizations based in Canada Educational organizations established in 1933 Organizations based in Saskatoon Professional associations based in Saskatchewan Trade unions established in 1933 Public sector trade unions in Canada

History

Teachers' strike in 2024

See also

References

External links