The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation issued a press release Thursday morning that called upon the provincial government to agree to binding arbitration over the issue of class size and complexity. In the release, they stated the STF would immediately end all of the job action if the government agreed to the binding arbitration on the issue while negotiations on the other remaining items continued.  

“We are putting forward a fair, objective and neutral path to resolve this single-issue dispute,” said Samantha Becotte, the president of the STF. “If government agrees to binding arbitration for class size and complexity, we will return to negotiations and all extracurricular activities, including Hoopla, band festivals, trips and graduation celebrations, can proceed.” 

The Education Act was amended in 2017 to remove the option for binding arbitration if it was requested by one party, however, if both parties agree to the use of binding arbitration it can proceed.  

The STF gave a deadline of Sunday, March 17th, for the government to agree to the offer, which would see the negotiations for all items except class size and complexity continue. The tentative agreement from those negotiations would be taken to the STF membership, while the arbitrator’s decision on class size and complexity would be added later.