School support workers now have a new contract. 

"Negotiations were very respectful," shared Lynn Little, Director of Education for the Southeast Cornerstone School Division. "And we thank the members for that tone and working that through."

"The previous agreement was in place from September 2014 until August 31, 2016, so we've been without an agreement and both parties worked hard to rectify that. the new agreement runs from September 2016 until August 31, 2018."

There will be a signing bonus for 2016 of 1% and a wage increase of 1% for 2017. In addition, there is also an increase of one day for family illness as well as increased use of personal days.

"It's important to identify that in this particular union, there are 200 employees that work for Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division, members of CUPE 4869 and those members include folks like caretakers, school bus drivers, administrative assistants, educational assistants, library technicians, student service counsellors and transportation technicians."

"Not all of our members are part of CUPE, some are part of another union, these particular folks would be folks that come from the legacy system primarily from Souris Moose Mountain and the Moosimin School Division."

"Those are very important roles in the school system from ensuring the children are arriving at school safely, ensuring that the facilities are clean and safe, supporting children with their learning int he classroom whether that be through personal care or developing independence, and of course, the administrative assistants who are at the hub of the school. They are all very critical roles and are important to the system."

As for teachers, they are in the midst of negotiating a new contract as well.

"They are in binding arbitration. The teacher negotiations are done at the provincial level so there are representatives from the Government of Saskatchewan School Board Association and the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation. Those talks, the teachers have requested binding arbitration so it's in that process now."

She added that she doesn't expect a resolution to that for another few months.