Everyone believes teachers should be properly paid – and they are. Endless demands from unions are a fact of life but often not justified. The more information everyone has about teachers’ and other public sector workers’ compensation and benefits, the better the support will be for governments which are fighting back against endlessly demanding unions while trying to spend our money as effectively as possible. Pictured: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. Photo Credit: Government of Saskatchewan.
The latest province to experience job action from their public-school teachers is Saskatchewan, and that dispute looks a lot like those which have taken place in other provinces. The provincial government and the union have been in negotiations since last June, with the previous collective agreement ending in August 2023. Job action by the teachers’ unions began in January 2024, with a combination of one-day strikes, rotating strikes and other actions such as the withdrawal of lunch supervision duties.
The major issues for the unions include class size and “complexity.” Complexity seems to be a new term, but basically relates to things such as disruptions in the classroom, the existence of overlapping disruptions (multidimensionality) and the existence of parallel teaching tasks. Disruptions have happened in classrooms since time immemorial, as has the existence of parallel teaching tasks. It sounds like the unions are inventing some new lingo to describe old phenomena so that they can find another excuse to extract more money from taxpayers.
The integration of students with learning disabilities and other special needs into regular classrooms, largely for reasons of “inclusion,” has introduced more violence into classrooms and increased the need for additional staff to deal with problems. All provinces are dealing with difficulties related to this practice. A serious evaluation of this model as opposed to the previous policy of placing these students in a separate class when their needs can be more specifically targeted without disrupting regular classes needs to be done to ensure the benefits outweigh the costs. Teachers rightly complain about the rise in disruption and violence in the classroom, but this is a direct result of the integration policy.
The class size issue appears to be the major sticking point for the unions. Teachers’ unions in all jurisdictions continue to harp on this issue, claiming that ever-smaller class sizes are essential for proper student accomplishment. The research on smaller class sizes is very mixed, with at least as many analyses concluding there is no advantage as those that claim smaller classes are better for student achievement. Class sizes are on average smaller than they have ever been, yet the unions keep pressing for further reductions. It’s worth keeping in mind that smaller class sizes mean more teachers, and more teachers mean bigger payments of dues to unions. A further complication to the unions’ arguments is that although class sizes have been shrinking over time, student performance has on average declined.
The Saskatchewan government’s position on the key issues is that things such as class size and complexity should be dealt with at the school board level, not within the collective bargaining process. This is a wise decision on the part of the government, as once something becomes embedded in a collective bargaining agreement, it will be there in perpetuity. The unions would love to have as many issues as possible built into collective agreements as they will be bargaining chips forever. Also, different school boards have differing needs, so the notion of leaving these issues to be determined locally makes a lot of sense.
Another interesting element of the Saskatchewan teachers’ negotiations is how the provincial government has aggressively advertised the compensation of teachers and how it favourably compares to teachers in other jurisdictions. Last year, the Saskatchewan government sponsored billboards stating that the average teacher’s compensation was $92,000 annually, higher than the average in other Western provinces. The unions took great offense at this campaign, stating that it was “misinformation,” and that the government should not engage in bargaining in public, even though the unions do this regularly.
The government has also offered Saskatchewan teachers a salary increase of seven per cent over three years, which is much more attractive than the increases that most private sector workers will be receiving, even though they will foot the bill for any increase in teachers’ pay. Teachers also have an attractive work schedule with summers off and many generous breaks throughout the year, not to mention better pensions and benefits than most Canadians.
In all Canadian provinces, the education budget is typically second in size to health care. In other words, massive. And both of these areas are regularly cited by unions to claim the government is underspending or actually cutting expenditures. The truth is exactly the reverse. Budgets in Saskatchewan and other provinces continue to increase their spending on education (and health care), while the quality of these public services declines. A look at international comparisons shows that Canada is one of the highest spenders in the world per capita on both education and health care, and many countries that spend less obtain better quality services to boot. This notion of underspending in these key areas is simply not true, and all Canadians need to be made aware of that and the reality that unions will always lie to try to get more for themselves from average taxpayers.
The biggest stick teachers’ unions can bring to bear against government is the welfare of the kids, and their parents who are loathe to upset teachers that will be determining the success or failure of their children in the classroom. Saskatchewan is on the right track in trying to educate everyone about the facts of teacher compensation. These facts are very similar in every Canadian province. Everyone believes teachers should be properly paid – and they are. Endless demands from unions are a fact of life but often not justified. The more information everyone has about teachers’ and other public sector workers’ compensation and benefits, the better the support will be for governments which are fighting back against endlessly demanding unions while trying to spend our money as effectively as possible.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
