(Click here for a printable PDF of this Bargaining Bulletin.)
Date: June 21, 2019
Greetings Sisters and Brothers,
Your SEIU-West Bargaining Committee met with SAHO and the Employer on June 14, 2019. The parties discussed the parameters and process of recommencing collective bargaining. We clarified that SAHO was still the Employer bargaining agent and has not yet been absorbed into the SHA.
An encouraging sign was that SAHO Indicated they wanted to move forward in collective bargaining. What this means is that we are not going back to our initial bargaining positions and recommencing bargaining from square one. We will be moving forward from what was mutually agreed to by SEIU-West and SAHO. Our focus will be dealing with the outstanding issues that have been identified by you in our ratification meetings.
Your bargaining committee has proposed to SAHO that we agree to a schedule for regular bargaining meetings in order to get a tentative agreement that our members will accept, as soon as possible. We indicated the union is not prepared to bargain endlessly; if we cannot get a tentative agreement in a reasonable amount of time, the bargaining committee may have to change its focus.
The full bargaining committee will be meeting on June 25 in order to prepare a proposal for SAHO and the Employer that we believe will be the basis for a tentative agreement that our members will accept. We will be preparing a bargaining meeting schedule as well as discussing our next steps should collective bargaining not be productive. Additionally, we will continue our work on preparing for essential services negotiations. Members from the Provincial Contract Action Team (ProCAT) are meeting with members at facilities across the province to let you all know how you can participate in the determination of essential services duties.
SEIU-West has met with our coalition partners SGEU and CUPE, as well as the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, to maintain our communications and ensure that our position and purpose in our negotiations with SAHO and the SHA Employer are clearly understood.
As always, we welcome our members’ questions and comments. We encourage you to contact the MRC at 1-888-999-7348 ext. 2298 to ask any further questions. Please watch for updates on SEIUWEST.ca. You can also follow our Facebook (fb.com/seiuwest) and Twitter (twitter.com/PurpleWorksSEIU) feeds.
In Solidarity,
Your SEIU-West SAHO Provincial Bargaining Committee:
CHR: Janice Platzke (SEIU-West Treasurer) • FHHR: Brenda Berry; Donna Gallant • HHR: Colleen Denniss • SHR: Judy Denniss; Rick Brown; Carla Saworski; Kim Wyatt; Charlene Sarafin; • Staff: Bob Laurie (Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Russell Doell (Deputy Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Cam McConnell (Negotiations Officer) • President: Barbara Cape
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