There is currently a vacancy on the SEIU-West Executive Board for members that work for the Community Based Organizations Sector.
Pinned
Virtual town halls (VTHs) were scheduled for the evenings of May 27 and 28 to update SEIU-West members about SAHO bargaining and answer bargaining questions. Unfortunately, the VTH on May 27 ran into major technical glitches. We apologize if you were one of the hundreds of members whose experienced this failure. We were not satisfied that the supplier of the VTH platform would be able to properly fix these problems in time, so we decided to cancel the May 28 VTH.
You may have noticed there hasn't been an announcement about bbqs for the summer yet.
The SEIU-West First Nations, Métis and Inuit Committee (FNMIC) is hosting a contest to design an image for orange shirts that the committee provides yearly to members. Submit your design to enter to win a $100 Co-op gift card.
Disclaimer: the following information is based on what SEIU-West found on publicly available federal government websites. This information is subject to change as it comes from outside sources. We will update this post further as information becomes available.
Please copy and paste the below text into an email, which you will then send to Blake McMullen at the address provided. Please ensure you save a copy of your email for your records.
Date:
To Blake McMullen ([email protected])
I have been advised by my Union to inform you I cannot truthfully and correctly complete the SHA Declaration of COVID-19 Vaccination Status because the Employer response options provided do not describe my intention.
Your Name:
October 14, 2021
RE: Message To SEIU-West members at Elmview, Moose Jaw, Parkside, Preston, and Sunset Extendicare long-term care homes
Jody works in the Food and Nutrition (F & N) department of an urban hospital as a Storesperson, where she orders food and other kitchen products and then when she receives them, puts them where they belong. Three years ago, when she saw this posting, she thought she’d enjoy it and is happy to report that her instinct was right.
Working during the pandemic was very trying. When the pandemic hit, they weren’t sure what hospitals were going to look like so they prepared for a huge wave. Some days, it was tricky to find space for all the extra food and paper products that were necessary to have on hand to prepare for the unknown. She says that having to wear a mask for the entire day is really difficult.
Can the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) implement a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy?
Yes. Employers are entitled to implement rules in the workplace so long as they meet certain criteria. Under Saskatchewan’s Occupational Health and Safety Legislation, employers have a duty to protect employees from work-related illness or injury. This can include policies to limit the spread of infectious diseases. Employer rules must be reasonable and they must not violate the explicit provisions of a Collective Agreement.
Employers still have an obligation to comply with the Human Rights Code, and to accommodate members under its provisions, if they cannot receive a vaccine because of a medical condition or other grounds that are protected by the Code, however this would likely require evidence of a need for accommodation beyond an applicant simply disagreeing with the safety or efficacy of the vaccine.
Can I be disciplined or fired if I refuse to get the vaccine?
Possibly, under certain circumstances. Policies requiring that all employees be vaccinated for the seasonal flu without a reasonable option to the vaccination have typically been deemed unreasonable in the context of discipline or dismissal. Currently, the SHA policy only requires proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test. However, should legislation or public health orders be introduced, as has occurred in other jurisdictions, allowing for the mandating COVID vaccination, failure to comply with Employer policy may result in discipline including termination.
In addition to potential disciplinary consequences, there could be other, non-disciplinary consequences, including being placed on leave without pay, the obligation to wear enhanced Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and the obligation to maintain physical distancing.
Will SEIU-West represent members subjected to discipline over employer COVID-19 policies?
Yes. As always, we will pursue grievances filed by the union on behalf of our members including proceeding to arbitration. However, SEIU-West will not argue unsupportable facts. If a member demands the Union file a grievance relying on unsupportable facts or exclusively on the member's personal opinions, SEIU-West may be unable to pursue the issue and the grievance will be unlikely to succeed.
What about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
Applying the Charter to workplace rules is a complex matter. The Charter normally only applies to government action and legislation only. Even if it did apply, Section 1 of the Charter states that all of its rights can be subject to “reasonable limits.”
What if I have a medical condition that excludes me from taking the COVID-19 vaccine?
Human rights codes say employers must reasonably accommodate employees who can’t comply with workplace policies due to medical conditions or disabilities. An employee will need to provide the employer with proof of disability from a medical professional to support their accommodation request.
If I’m unvaccinated, can the SHA implement mandatory testing?
Yes. Mandatory testing is a reasonable alternative to the proof of vaccination requirement.
Will employees be forced to pay, out-of-pocket, for their testing?
This will depend on several factors, including the provisions of the Collective Agreement and the contents of the employer’s own policy.
Can I grieve this policy?
Members do not file grievances, the Union does so on behalf of the members.
What if I’m working from home?
There are currently competing legal opinions on the reasonableness of requiring employees working from home to provide proof of vaccination or submit to regular COVID testing. It will depend in part on the stated purpose for introducing the policy. However, the Employer can require employees to return to work at an Employer facility, in which case the employee would be subject to the policy.
What if I can’t take the vaccine because of my religion?
Upon the provision of proper verifiable information regarding your religious exemption, you should be accommodated by being provided access to regular COVID testing.
What if I am worried about the vaccine due to pregnancy?
If you have proper verifiable medical information indicating you have a medical condition that would preclude being vaccinated, you should be accommodated by being provided access to regular COVID testing. If your worry is your personal opinion, you may opt for mandatory COVID testing if it allowed in the policy, but it would not be an accommodation.
What if the employer cannot provide an accommodation?
If the Employer indicates it cannot provide an accommodation, including alternate work or work location, the Union will act to ensure the Employer’s claim is accurate and all accommodation options have been exhausted. If it is verified that an Employer cannot provide an accommodation, then it is possible you will not be allowed into the workplace as an employee.
What if I have an adverse reaction to the vaccine?
If you have an adverse reaction and you subsequently obtain medical advice from an appropriate medical professional to refrain from taking more vaccine, you may provide the employer with proof of your condition from a medical professional and request an accommodation, which may include regular COVID testing.
October 8, 2021
The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed SEIU-West to protect and defend our members in new ways. Core to this is working with our members to ensure their safety on the job. We fought to get enough PPE to keep our members safe. We continually highlighted the need for mental health supports during each wave. We pushed and continue to push for better staffing ratios and more staff to address work overload and burnout and we fought for members in acute care, home care, community care and long term care to have priority access to vaccines as essential healthcare workers.
SEIU-West has taken an active role in combating Covid-19 by raising our members' concerns and issues with the Government of Saskatchewan, in the media and with healthcare employers. We continue to strongly encourage members to get vaccinated, wear a mask and follow public health orders in order to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
SEIU-West stands by that encouragement to get vaccinated. SEIU-West stands beside our members.
On October 1, the Government of Saskatchewan gave employers, including the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the legal authority to require workers to provide proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test for Covid-19. SEIU-West will continue to stand with our members. Your vaccination status will not change our Union’s representation of each and every member. We will ensure that you have access to a fair process; we will assist with any duty to accommodate requests; and we will represent all our members.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets out four fundamental freedoms: (a) freedom of conscience and religion; (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; (c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and (d) freedom of association. However, these rights are not absolute; the Charter, even before it sets out the fundamental freedoms, states that those rights and freedoms set out in it are subject to such reasonable legal limits as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
You may have rights to make choices about how you live, but the Charter may not protect you from every consequence of those choices. The Charter only applies to limitations imposed by a provincial or federal government, and permits governments to impose limits on freedoms where those limits are reasonably justifiable.
The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission has released an information sheet stating that requiring proof of vaccination or negative COVID tests is generally permissible under the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, so long as individuals who are unable to be vaccinated due to a Code-protected characteristic are reasonably accommodated.
The objection to vaccination based on personal preference is not protected by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. Individuals who choose not to be vaccinated based on personal preferences do not have the right to accommodation under the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.
The collection of information about vaccination status is also not protected by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. Where such information is collected, it constitutes personal medical information and must be collected and stored in a manner consistent with privacy legislation.
The SHA is permitted to collect its employees’ personal information related to proof of COVID 19 vaccination and/or proof of participation in its SHA COVID-19 monitored testing program. In doing so, the SHA is required to comply with The Health Information Protection Act (HIPA) and The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (LA FOIP) legislation relating to the privacy and confidentiality of personal information and personal health information.
The principles for collecting personal private information set out in the legislation are that the Employer is to establish the purpose and authority for the collection, collect the least amount of information to meet the purpose, share it only with those who need-to-know, store it, keep it secure and destroy it when no longer needed.
All of our membership have rights and responsibilities – our responsibility as a union is to represent our membership’s rights in a manner free from arbitrariness, bias or unreasonableness. We will continue to represent the interests of all of our members.
- Your SEIU-West Executive Board
The Executive Board of SEIU-West is the highest elected body of our union who oversee governance and direction. The members of the Executive Board are front line essential workers who have experienced the peaks and valleys of the COVID-19 global pandemic with our members.
To download a PDF copy of this statement please click here.
To read FAQs about this statement and the SHA's proof of vaccination policy, please click here.
For information on next week's SEIU-West Virtual Town Halls which will address the issue of proof of vaccination, please click here for information on Wednesday October 13th's meeting and here for information on Thursday October 14th's meeting (you may attend either meeting at your convenience).
September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, is a day we Workers can reflect upon this nation’s dark past, recognize our present struggles, and plan for a united future, together.
Reconciliation means more than changing our profile filter and social media status for the day.
It requires a commitment to improving relationships and outcomes for everyone in our community.
There are no reasons for waiting for other people or organizations to take the lead on reconciliation, because there is something for all of us in the 94 TRC Calls to Action.
At a recent SEIU-West convention, speaker and residential school survivor Eugene Arcand challenged public sector unions to do more for reconciliation because, “You guys have made a good living off the misery of my people.” Mr Arcand cuts through the fluff and niceties, reminding us of the stark reality of our world and our roles as service workers.
Many of us serve Saskatchewan through our careers as staff on the frontline, where the devastating effects of our society’s structural divide are what we deal with every day, in our hospitals, schools, CBOs, and workplaces.
We can achieve our SEIU-West mandate: to improve the lives of working people and their families, and lead the way to a more just and humane society, through Reconciliation. For us to stand for racial, economic and social justice, for dignity and respect, for having a voice on the job and in society, and for a secure job with the opportunity to advance, we need to acknowledge our societies Truth, the many barriers people in our communities face. By fully understanding and confronting the challenges before us, we can and will overcome them.
On September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, let us remember our nation's history, and acknowledge the work we need to do for a brighter future, together.
Check out our YouTube video by clicking here.
We want to thank the over 150 SEIU-West members who entered our Labour Day contest.
This contest was so popular, we decided to double the amount of prizes from three to six!
We drew for five $25 Co-Op gift cards from the pool of members who got all six questions right and the grand prize winner of a $50 Co-Op gift card was drawn from the group of people who got all six questions AND the bonus question correct.
The answers to the questions were:
| TRUE: | Unions were created by workers that wanted better working conditions. |
| TRUE: | Unions fought for and won Maternity and Parental Leave. |
| TRUE-ISH: |
Unions fought for and won equal pay for equal work in workplaces, regardless of gender. (There’s still lots of work to do to achieve gender equality in the workplace. Check out the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) Gender Equality issues page for more resources.) |
| TRUE: | Vacation pay exists because of unions’ fight for paid days off. |
| TRUE: | Workers in Saskatchewan recently fought for and won interpersonal violence leave. This allows 5 paid and 5 unpaid days away from work to access supports or relocate to a new home. |
| FALSE: | Unions have no further goals, our workplaces are perfect. |
| Bonus MRC question: |
1-888-999-SEIU Other acceptable answers were: 1-888-999-7348 Saskatoon Office: 306-652-1011 Moose Jaw Office: 306-693-7922 Swift Current Office: 306-773-2536 |
Our Grand Prize Winner, who got both questions right is...
Phyllis C from Wigmore Hospital
And our other prize winners are...
Lorine B from Central Butte Regency Hospital
Leann H from Saskatoon City Hospital
Janadine A from Royal University Hospital
Nicole B from Humboldt and District Health Complex
Samantha H from Gardiner Park Childcare
We hope you all enjoyed your Labour Day!
Boni is the head Environmental Services Worker (ESW) in a rural hospital.
She loves her job because she leaves with a sense of pride, knowing she and her team have done their best to keep the hospital clean and their patients safe.
Once again, the heavy hand of Premier Scott Moe and the Sask. Party has come down on the very health care workers working in hospitals, long-term care facilities and peoples' homes, providing the quality care that all people of Saskatchewan have come to expect.
We all know there is a current COVID pandemic crisis in Saskatchewan, brought on in part because of the Delta variant and in part because of the premier’s reluctance to go back to public health orders that actually work to reduce the spread of the virus. The SHA and affiliates had asked the health care unions to negotiate a new Letter of Understanding (LOU) to replace the LOU on staff redeployment and cohorting that expired in July of this year. In the middle of these negotiations, the Premier unilaterally imposed a Minister’s Order that compelled all SHA and affiliate employers and employees that been covered by the previous expired LOU regarding staff redeployment, labour pools and cohorting to comply with the terms in that LOU, even though it had legally expired.
Make no mistake, this mandated direction is not an LOU, was not negotiated with the unions and was definitely not agreed to by the unions, including SEIU-West.
The irony for us all is that our Premier, while having no compunction about imposing measures taking away our rights in our Collective Agreements, won’t impose a masking order or other public health measures that would help stem the flow of new COVID cases and help relieve the pressure on our health care system. Instead he continues to turn a blind eye to the major health issues in our province and fails to take the safety of the entire population into account.
Our Premier is using health care workers to distract the public’s attention from what needs to happen – putting in place public health measures that are fair and enforced equally, even if they are not popular with some residents of the province.
We know we can beat COVID, but we need our government to show leadership, show responsibility and engage everyone in this fight, not just health care workers.
SEIU-West will have discussions with the SHA regarding the implementation of this ‘mandate’. SEIU-west demands fair and equitable treatment of its members affected by the minister’s order and that the SHA meaningfully demonstrates its ‘sensitivity to its employees needs and desires’ during the time of this order.
SEIU-West encourages all our members to get vaccinated, wear a mask when in public, wash your hands often, maintain social/physical distance, keep your bubble small, follow all safety protocols and stay home if you are not feeling well.
If you have any questions please contact the MRC by phone 1-888-999-7348 ext. 2298, email [email protected], or through our website contact form www.seiuwest.ca/contact.
For Immediate Release
September 15, 2021
Making health care workers scapegoats no way to manage COVID-19 pandemic
Three unions representing health care providers in Saskatchewan – SGEU, CUPE and SEIU-West – are angry and disappointed by the Sask Party government’s decision to impose an emergency order that will allow it to redeploy thousands of health care workers from their normal jobs.
The government threatened publicly on September 10 that it would issue an emergency order on September 13 if talks with the unions, which commenced on September 9, didn’t result in an agreement to allow for employee redeployment. Instead, government advised it would impose a previously negotiated Letter of Understanding (LOU), which expired in July, between the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and a number of unions representing health care workers. SHA representatives and health care provider unions had just concluded a negotiation session Monday afternoon when the government issued the emergency order.
“For months, health providers and their unions have been calling on the government to take action to stop the rapidly rising cases of COVID-19 that are overwhelming the health care system,” said Sandra Seitz, CUPE 5430 President. “Instead, the government ‘ignored the science’ and passively watched this latest COVID crisis unfold. Now, after progress was made in negotiations with the SHA, we are disappointed and discouraged to see the government take such a heavy-handed approach with health care workers.”
The previous LOU enabled the SHA to move thousands of workers between different jobs to meet the needs of Saskatchewan’s pandemic response. That LOU expired earlier this year when the province lifted the public health order and removed all pandemic restrictions and measures. Since that time, vaccination rates have stalled, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have increased to record levels, and health care workers of all types have faced unprecedented workloads with many staff suffering burnout and chronic fatigue. Negotiations for a new LOU would have provided labour mobility while proactively addressing the issues health care workers endure in their provision of care.
"It’s unacceptable for the premier to refuse to enact even the most basic, common-sense measures like indoor masking for the general public,” said Tracey Sauer, SGEU President. “Yet he's more than willing to demand additional sacrifices from health care workers who have already gone above and beyond during extreme conditions over the past 18 months."
Last week, the government announced a reduction in non-critical or elective services in order to expand surge capacity in the health system. It also announced plans to further privatize a number of health services by outsourcing contact tracing and testing as well as thousands of MRIs to private, for-profit companies to help alleviate strains on the system.
At a time when the premier claims the health care system is in such deep crisis that he must circumvent health care workers’ basic rights and the foundations of our public health system, Mr. Moe has refused to consider re-introducing a low-cost, easily implemented mask mandate.
This despite the fact that the media has reported that the government’s own research shows a mask mandate could reduce cases by as much as 50 per cent.
“Instead of providing effective leadership to get us through the fourth wave of the pandemic, it’s clear the premier is blaming and threatening health care providers for the pressures in the health care system caused by his government’s inaction,” said Neil Colmin, SEIU-West Vice-President. “The premier and his health minister have expressed gratitude to health care workers in the past and have referred to them as heroes, but these recent actions to force health care workers back into unhealthy and unsafe workplace conditions speak louder than words. This is not how a government should treat its heroes.”
SGEU, CUPE and SEIU-West represent over 30,000 health care providers working in acute care, home care, public health and long-term care across the province.
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For more information, please contact:
Carolyn Rebeyka
Communications Officer, SGEU
Phone: 306-519-2903
Christine Miller
Communications, SEIU-West
Phone: 306-477-8733
Tannara Yelland
Communications Representative, CUPE
Phone: 647-459-0729
Christine is an Environmental Services Worker (ESW) for Extendicare.
She enjoys every aspect of her job from cleaning residents' rooms to going above and beyond and being a second set of hands by offering someone a drink or ensuring they are comfortable in their chairs.