One day following the initiation of sanctions by the province’s teachers in their ongoing contract dispute with the provincial government-trustee bargaining team, a group of a couple dozen students at Humboldt Collegiate rallied in an effort to have talks resume.

The students gathered with signs and slogans outside the front entrance of HCI at 1:30 pm on Friday, March 13. The day before sanctions were introduced that brought an end to volunteer and extra-curricular supports by the teachers, thus bringing an end to the basketball season and to other events and trips.

Raea Lamont was the spokesperson for the students in attendance. The students acted in solidarity with counterparts in Foam Lake who had also staged a rally.

“We are supporting our teachers, but we are also trying to put an end to the sanctions,” Lamont explained, “It’s hard for us with extra-curriculars being cancelled, and Hoopla this weekend was a big deal to a lot of people. We’re trying to get everyone back to the table to come to a decision.”

The rally followed an offer made by the government-trustee team to the teachers on March 11. The offer included a one time $1500 payment for the first year and a 2 percent increase in each of the next three years on the salary grid. The Government also committed to additional funds to address class size and composition in Saskatchewan schools.

The STF representing teachers is seeking to negotiate class size and composition issues within the provincial contract, a stance that the Government flatly rejects. No further talks are scheduled.

For the students’ part, they gathered briefly, expressed their position, and returned to class without further incident.