Date: June 21, 2021
Greetings Sisters and Brothers at Extendicare,
Your Extendicare Bargaining Committee met on Friday June 11, 2021. The committee membership has changed. The members now are Lynette Pinfold – Moose Jaw unit chair; Colleen Watson – Elmview unit chair; Lisa Virtue – Sunset unit chair; Marlene Thomson – Parkside unit chair and Lori Klus – Preston unit chair. Union representatives are Tracy Goodheart and Katelyn Almen. Chief spokesperson will be Bob Laurie, director of Contract Bargaining & Enforcement for SEIU-West.
As you all know, there has been considerable delay in commencing Extendicare collective bargaining. First, Extendicare bargaining traditionally commences after the conclusion of SAHO collective bargaining, as the SEIU-West/SAHO negotiations set the pattern for Extendicare monetary increases. SAHO bargaining took an extraordinarily long period of time to conclude. As well, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal operations at Extendicare facilities throughout the province. Extendicare management focused all of their resources on trying to deal with the pandemic and the negative effects it had upon the residents and staff in all of their facilities. As a consequence, there was no time for anyone to attend bargaining sessions.
We have set August 31, September 1 and 2, 2021 as our dates to commence bargaining. Your bargaining committee will be sending out a short survey for you to identify your bargaining issues now, and for you to provide comments on the issues the committee has identified. As well, we will make available the SAHO tentative agreement document so you can see what changes have been made with respect to compensation and other matters. One of the most significant changes is the way in which seniority is calculated for SEIU-West members who work for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA). We will be asking for your opinions on this change.
Through the survey, and through virtual membership meetings, the bargaining committee will develop a proposal package which we will table at the commencement of negotiations.
As always, we welcome our members’ questions and comments as we build our bargaining proposal package and get ready for bargaining. 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 and Twitter feeds.
In Solidarity,
Your SEIU-West Extendicare Provincial Bargaining Committee:Preston Extendicare: Lori Klus • Parkside Extendicare: Marlene Thomson • Elmview Extendicare: Colleen Watson • Sunset Extendicare: Lisa Virtue • Moose Jaw Extendicare: Linette Pinfold • Staff: Bob Laurie (Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Tracy Goodheart; Katelyn Almen (Staff Representatives)
To download a printable PDF copy of this update please click here.
Date: July 23, 2021
Greetings Sisters and Brothers,
Your Extendicare Bargaining Committee has been hard at work.
We have completed the bargaining survey and it will be available from your unit chairs next week.
Date: June 21, 2021
Greetings Sisters and Brothers at Extendicare,
Your Extendicare Bargaining Committee met on Friday June 11, 2021. The committee membership has changed. The members now are Lynette Pinfold – Moose Jaw unit chair; Colleen Watson – Elmview unit chair; Lisa Virtue – Sunset unit chair; Marlene Thomson – Parkside unit chair and Lori Klus – Preston unit chair. Union representatives are Tracy Goodheart and Katelyn Almen. Chief spokesperson will be Bob Laurie, director of Contract Bargaining & Enforcement for SEIU-West.
Date: January 12, 2021
Greetings Sisters and Brothers at Extendicare,
As you are aware, SEIU-West has reached a tentative agreement with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) for our members who work for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and its affiliates and who are covered under the SAHO/SEIU-West Collective Bargaining Agreement.