The Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation is planning to return to job action as soon as this Friday, as government negotiators walked away from the bargaining table.

The STF and Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee were meeting in Saskatoon for talks that began on Monday.

The two sides were supposed to meet again late Tuesday afternoon, when the government’s negotiators walked away from the table.

“The Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee promised a renewed mandate when it came back to
the bargaining table, but it was readily apparent that the mandate was extremely limited.” STF President Samantha Becotte said in a statement. “They immediately began stalling tactics that undermined good faith negotiations. Instead of beginning Monday morning, the GTBC delayed until Monday afternoon, then pushed Tuesday’s start to 5:30 p.m., before
eventually cancelling altogether.”

Becotte says parents can expect more job action from teachers Friday, and after the February Break is over.

In the past the STF has given 48 hours notice of any action, which has so far included a day long provincewide walkout, rotating strikes targeting a few school divisions. Teachers were going to refuse lunchtime supervision at schools last week, but that was cancelled when the government invited them to come back to the bargaining table.

The key sticking point is the STF wants to bargain with the government over class size, and class complexity. The government has held firm that those issues should be negotiated by each individual school division. The government brought the teachers back to the table this week with the promise of renewed talks about wages, but no mention about class size and class complexity.

The government says Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill will speak to the media at the Legislature on Wednesday.