Even though public health orders have been lifted effective July 11, 2021 in Saskatchewan, we all should remember that the pandemic is not ‘over’.
The reality is there is a portion of the population who are not vaccinated, there are low testing numbers, and there are rising concerns about new COVID Variants, so we need to remain cautious.
At the time of this message being posted, The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) still requires masking in all of their facilities.
The SHA and other employers are working on their reopening plans, as are we, and we will provide updates as they become available.
For now, the main offices remain closed to the public and anyone entering is required to wear masks and follow office safety protocols, Unit SEIU-West offices must continue to follow the safety guidelines put in place, and we are not holding in-person events.
These measures are being taken with the view to keep our members and staff safe and we will continue to take our guidance from the provincial pandemic reports, recommendations from the World Health Organization and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
These next days and weeks will be freeing without the requirement to wear masks in public.
However, we recommend that you do an assessment of the risks before you go without your mask:
We will keep our COVID webpage live and updated as we make efforts to implement a cautious return to normal operations in our offices.
Members are invited to use our website contact form with any alerts or concerns over the coming weeks and months.
For Immediate Release, April 17, 2020
Saskatoon – SEIU-West and the other health care unions [Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Sask Government & General Employees Union (SGEU), Sask Union of Nurses (SUN) and Health Sciences Assoc of Sask (HSAS)] have reached an agreement with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) to create a staff redeployment strategy for COVID-19.
Click here for a printable PDF file of this President's Message (LOU on Redeployment).
Over the course of the last 10 days, representatives from SEIU-West, CUPE, SGEU, HSAS and SUN have met with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) reps via Webex to negotiate a Letter of Understanding (LOU) regarding the development of a Labour Pool and redeployment strategies from the Labour Pool – this is only in relation to COVID-19 health care needs.
A number of our members have asked about hazard pay. They hear grocery store staff are receiving a bonus and ask why aren’t health care workers getting something similar.
Good news! After weeks of talks with the employer and the Ministry, the SHA has finally released a new set of PPE guidelines setting out much-needed access for PPE for those working in the health care sector and Extendicare facilities!
Going forward, recommendations for Continuous face mask use and Extended use of face masks and eye protection are now as follows:
*Continuous face mask use: all health care workers who come into contact with patients during the course of their shift must wear a face mask at all times.
*Extended use of face masks and eye protection is the practice of wearing the same face mask and eye protection for repeated interactions with multiple patients for the maximum of one complete shift.
Please read the attached documents below for details regarding the PPE, staff types and tasks it applies to.
CV-19-G0006-Continuous-and-Extended-PPE-Use-Guidelines-Acute-Care-April-14-2020
CV-19-G0007-Continuous-and-Extended-PPE-Use-Guidelines-Continuing-Care-April-14-2020
CV-19-G0008-Continuous-and-Extended-PPE-Use-Guidelines-Testing-Assessment-Sites-April-14-2020
CV-19-G0009-Continuous-and-Extended-PPE-Use-Guidelines-Home-Care-April-14-2020
CV-19-G0010-Continuous-and-Extended-PPE-Use-Guidelines-Primary-Care-April-14-2020
This directive covers the SHA and Extendicare facilities. If any issue arises with following directive, please speak to your employer.
Remember to you can also send all questions/concerns to our Member Resource Centre - you can call anytime at 1.888.999.7348 ext. 2298 (province-wide) or email at https://www.seiuwest.ca/contact.
SEIU-West continues to fight for the safety and wellbeing of our members. #GetMePPE #Solidarity #ProtectAllWorkers #StrongerTogether #WeAreAllinThisTogether
On March 24 the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) released “recommendations” about what personal protective equipment (PPE) should be worn by health care workers caring for people with COVID in hospitals, community/long-term care, and home care contexts. Since then, the SHA has been turning these recommendations into policies and practices.
SEIU-West President Barbara Cape calls on members to contact their Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) immediately to advise them about the risks they are facing in the front lines without adequate PPE's now.
For Immediate Release, April 9, 2020
Saskatoon – The provincial government and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) pandemic response plan is creating a great sense of unease for SEIU-West health care providers.
For Immediate Release, April 8, 2020
The three unions representing workers at community-based organizations (CBOs) in Saskatchewan have joined forces to call on all levels of government to provide additional support to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As we celebrate World Health today the stakes have never been higher. The last few weeks has made it even more apparent that all is not well in our Health Care system. 
As people gathered supplies to start self-isolation and went to their children’s schools to pick up their supplies, health care workers walked through the doors of their workplaces to continue care for their clients/patients/residents. Health care workers scrambled to figure out what to do with their children; because these arrangements were necessary for them to leave their homes and get to work. Many had to find a new method to get to work – keeping in mind the requirements of social distancing.
You want to know what a hero looks like? It’s our members. While the world stocked up on toilet paper and hunkered down, our members couldn’t stay home. They worried as they checked in on their own loved ones, for fear they had caught COVID-19 at work and were about to spread the virus to their families. They worry everyday about COVID 19 spreading to their patients/clients/residents and their health care team members.
Even knowing this great potential risk they have soldiered on, doing an amazing job to limit the spread of this new contagion and providing the professional, valuable, compassionate care they always have provided. All while waiting for a fair collective agreement, one that would help address their own needs like chronic understaffing, crushing workloads, increased cost of living, long hours and mandated work.
What is most frustrating is that our health care workers are heroically putting their lives and the lives of their family on the line, all without sufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
On Thursday (April 9TH), members across the province will gather at appropriate social distances during their shift change to demand that Scott Moe use his power to deliver more PPE to frontline health care workers by holding up signs saying #GetMePPE. For those who cannot do this on April 9th – we invite them to do so today or any other day this week. To submit your picture, send it to [email protected] and we’ll post it to our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Our Health Care workers risk their own safety for us, keeping us as healthy as possible during this pandemic. Health care providers are our World Health Day heroes!
For Immediate Release, April 1, 2020
Saskatoon – SEIU-West leaders and members know that our Saskatchewan Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) will be receiving a 1.8% salary increase today.