March 16, 2026
Dear Members,
Last week, March 9 to 13, 2026, your Bargaining Committees met in Regina with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO).
After three years of bargaining, we are frustrated. We have consistently worked to narrow the number of changes to our corresponding CBAs to ones that would improve your workplace rights. However, the employer continues to redesign their own language instead of resolving what was originally proposed.
Even where language already exists in the collective agreements to address an issue, the employer continues to bring forward new versions and larger bundles of amendments often structured as “all or nothing” proposals, insisting that all health provider unions must all agree before we can move on.
The health providers unions introduced our monetary proposal. Your wages have not kept pace with the cost of living and this bargaining item is a priority for us. However, the employer is refusing to discuss monetary items. Instead, SAHO said they were “perplexed” that wages were even on the agenda at this stage.
We have responded to all SAHO’s common proposals on the agenda. This week, they have only focused on one: SAHO has taken an inflexible position on the portability of benefits when employees move into a new permanent position.
Many of the employer’s proposals focus on changing how work can move between facilities and communities. Currently, when you apply for a job, you know which facility or community that job belongs to. You know the team you work with, the environment you work in, and what the expectations are. Members rely on that stability. It allows people to plan childcare, transportation, and family life. If jobs are expected to move between locations, those expectations must be clearly defined so members understand what they are agreeing to.
Given these ongoing challenges and stalled progress, the health providers bargaining committees are considering all available options to conclude bargaining.
The parties are scheduled to meet again on March 30 to April 2. We will continue to push for an agreement that addresses wages, protects the collective agreement, and supports a stable health care workforce.
In solidarity,
On behalf of your bargaining committees,
Click here for a PDF version of this Joint Bargaining Update.