Today’s Regina Leader Post features an interesting story on the timing of billboards on teacher negotiations, paid for with tax dollars by Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education.
The story, by reporter Larissa Kurz, can be found here:
Between June 2023 and November 2023, the Ministry of Education spent $145,000 on billboards and digital advertising. The money came from a public education fund set up for the government-trustee bargaining committee; in other words, dollars from taxpayers.
The billboards outline the government’s opening salary offer of seven percent, then go on to describe the average salary for a Saskatchewan teacher as $92,000, which the government claims is “more than others in Western Canada”. It is the position of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation that this is a misrepresentation of teachers’ earnings.
The Federation used Saskatchewan’s Freedom of Information and Privacy Act to request further information on the total cost of the advertising campaign, all communications planning documents related to the campaign including Key Performance Indicators, strategic direction, key messages and budget breakdowns.
What came back was a heavily redacted set of emails, starting with one between a local Regina advertising agency that does work for several government ministries, sent to an official in Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education.
The first email is dated June 21, 2023. The next email, dated June 23, 2023 has the subject line “ad campaign”.
(In the interests of maintaining some semblance of a relationship with officials in the Ministry of Education, I’ve left out the names of those who received the email.)
Despite the fact government has chosen to wipe out all of the content in the body of the email, the dates and subject lines are still interesting.
It seems planning for the billboards began no later than June 21, and likely well before that date.
However, opening proposals were not presented until meetings held on June 28 and 29th. That means the planning for the billboards began even before the two sides had exchanged proposals.
The Leader Post article quotes Charles Smith, an associate professor of political studies at the University of Saskatchewan.
Smith says whether the government is guilty of bargaining in bad faith is up to Saskatchewan’s Labour Relations Board. However, Smith says government appears to have been preparing these ads long before negotiations broke down.
“I think you can make a credible argument that there is an orchestrated campaign that is not interested in getting a deal done, and that could be evidence of bad faith.”
Prof. Charles Smith
Regina Leader Post
16 February 2024
The Leader Post article also quotes STF President Samantha Becotte who says “I truly believe they have never come to the bargaining table with the intention of negotiating in good faith.”
In a subsequent news release dated February 16, 2024, the STF advised teachers and members of the public to expect an escalation in job sanctions.
At issue is the government’s refusal to discuss teacher working conditions and student learning conditions. It is the position of the STF that class size (number of student) and classroom complexity (the nature, scope and scale of challenges facing individuals) should be part of the language in a new collective agreement.
“Unless they are willing to return to the table and actually negotiate, we have no choice but to continue using the tools available to us to hold them accountable. We know that this is a difficult and stressful situation for families. We want to give them as much notice as we can so that families can prepare. If you are tired of this, as we are, please call your local school board trustee and MLA to voice your concerns.”
Samantha Becotte, President
STF News Release dated 16 February 2024
The entire news release can be found here:
https://www.stf.sk.ca/about-stf/news/teachers-advise-to-expect-escalation-in-job-sanctions
Ian Hanna 