Sask. teachers begin binding arbitration hearings with province Monday

Province and STF confirm nominees WATCH: The province and the Sask. Teachers’ Federation have confirmed their nominees for a binding arbitration panel.

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) begins binding arbitration with the province on Monday.

The two parties agreed to binding arbitration in June, putting an end to a protracted bargaining process that saw multiple rounds of labour action, including strikes and work-to-rule orders.

Arbitration runs from Dec. 16 to 20 in Saskatoon, with former University of Saskatchewan law professor Daniel Ish serving as arbitrator.

In binding arbitration, a neutral third party joins negotiations and listens to proposals from both sides before making a decision on the best path forward — which the two parties must accept.

“The panel will weigh the facts and rationale presented and the arbitrator’s decision will be delivered in the form of a legally binding written report, delivered after the process has been completed,” the STF said in a news release when the arbitration was announced.

Teachers have been negotiating with the government trustee bargaining committee since May 2023, but talks quickly ground to a halt over wages and the province’s resistance to address the issues of classroom size and complexity within the teachers’ collective agreement.

After a year of bitter disputes, protest, a series of full-scale and rotating job actions and the rejection of a second contract offer from the government bargaining committee in May, both sides agreed to commit to binding arbitration.