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If you are member of the media and would like to speak to us for an upcoming article or news item, please contact Christine Miller in Communications by email [email protected] or by phone at 306.652.1011 ext. 8733
For Immediate Release - December 13, 2019
Saskatoon – SEIU-West health care providers voted on a job action mandate Wednesday, December 11, 2019. An overwhelming majority agreed to authorize the SEIU-West bargaining committee to use any and all job actions needed to get a fair contract.
For Immediate Release - November 20, 2019
Regina – SEIU-West members will be on hand for question period today at the Saskatchewan Provincial Legislature to hear responses from the SaskParty government on health care questions from the New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan.
For Immediate Release - November 7, 2019
Moose Jaw – SEIU-West members were talking to the public outside of Moose Jaw City Hall today to discuss the day to day challenges they face in the health care sector.
For Immediate Release - November 6, 2019
Moose Jaw – SEIU-West members and their supporters will be sharing information with the public at Moose Jaw City Hall on November 7, 2019.
For immediate release – November 6, 2019
Today, on CBO Worker Appreciation Day, SGEU, SEIU-West and CUPE thank the thousands of people who work at Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) across the province for the vital services they provide to Saskatchewan people in need. The three unions also call on the provincial government to commit to providing multi-year funding for Saskatchewan CBOs.
For Immediate Release - October 31, 2019
Saskatoon – Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe received an open letter today from the Service Employees International Union-West (SEIU-West), urging him to stand up for Saskatchewan health care providers. Based on statements Mr. Moe used in his recent “New Deal with Canada” letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and in the October 23rd Throne Speech, SEIU-West called on him to improve the current state of health care with “a New Deal with Health Providers”.
The open letter highlights critical short-staffing issues in Saskatchewan’s health sector, including at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, described in the letter as “the province’s major tertiary care centre, and a critical resource for the adjacent Children’s Hospital.” The letter asks how Moe’s government proposes “to recruit and retain health providers to work in understaffed facilities that are experiencing shockingly high rates of workplace injury and violence.”
“The Throne Speech talks about investing in public services to provide a better life for Saskatchewan people,” Cape added. “We urge the Premier to keep this promise, by investing in the people who provide the vast majority of front-line care.”
“Due to crushing workloads, ever increasing complex care, and less staff to work, the health care system is set to fail,” continued Cape. “We have asked the public we serve to magnify our calls for safety in the care environment. We need to stop the cycle of understaffed/overworked/injured by creating a health care work environment that attracts people to a health care career. We challenge our Premier to take the initial steps and to respond to our call for real human resource planning.”
SEIU-West’s 12,000 health care providers have been without a contract since March 31, 2017. In spring 2019, SEIU-West members strongly rejected the offer of 0%/0%/1%/2%/2% the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) proposed.
“SAHO is in constant communication with the government during bargaining,” said SEIU-West President Barb Cape, the letter’s author. “No matter what initiatives we’ve brought to the table, SAHO maintains the government’s mandate of rollbacks - two years of zero wage increases and a contract that doesn’t even cover the cost of living. Our members are clear that this is unacceptable. They know the Premier and other members of the legislature gave themselves a 5.8% pay increase over the last two years. They know the base salary for Saskatchewan MLAs has increased by over 50% since the Saskatchewan Party first formed government in 2007. All our members want is a Collective Agreement that lets them afford to work safely in health care.”
SEIU-West represents over 13,000 people across Saskatchewan. They include people who work in health care, education, municipalities, community-based organizations, retirement homes and other sectors. They are joined by one colour – purple – and one union – SEIU-West. Purple works in our communities! Visit PurpleWorks.ca to find out more about SEIU-West members.
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For more information, contact:
Jolomi Gagar, Project Coordinator
Phone: 306-652-1011 ext. 2225
For Immediate Release - October 4, 2019
Saskatoon – Nearly 90% of workers at Green Falls Landing in Regina have voted in favour of joining five other Revera Retirement facilities as members of SEIU-West.
For Immediate Release - October 2, 2019
Saskatoon – Workers at the Parent Aide Program, part of the Saskatoon Society for the Protection of Children (SSPC), have voted strongly in favour of forming their union with SEIU-West.
For immediate release: September 29, 2019
Saskatoon – As part of their Put Care First: End Understaffing campaign, SEIU-West members held a rally at Kinsmen Park in Saskatoon Sunday to talk with members of the public about chronic understaffing in the health care sector.
For immediate release: September 27, 2019
Saskatoon – As part of their Put Care First - End Understaffing campaign, SEIU-West members will be present at Kinsmen Park in Saskatoon this Sunday to share information and talk with the public about the chronic understaffing issues they face daily in our health care sector.
For Immediate Release - September 25, 2019
Saskatoon – As their bargaining team works to negotiate a fair contract, SEIU-West members in the health care sector are showing their support by wearing purple today.