In early December, the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board (the LRB) issued a decision about the five former Extendicare facilities. The decision was based on an interpretation of the regulations that governed a previous restructuring of the healthcare system in 1997, commonly called the ‘Dorsey regulations’. In that decision, the Saskatoon and Moose Jaw facilities remain within the SEIU-West family. However, the 3 Regina-based facilities were moved, without a vote of the membership, into the CUPE 5430 jurisdiction.
Pinned
Build Power, Win Justice 2024!
The SEIU-West Political Action & Education Department is pleased to invite members to apply to attend Build Power, Win Justice. This two-day conference will take place at SEIU-West in Saskatoon on March 19th and 20th, 2024. Interested members can apply by completing this application form.
Notice to Members in the Education Sector - Re: STF Strike
January 12, 2024
Good afternoon,
As you may have heard, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) has announced that its members across Saskatchewan will be conducting a one-day strike on Tuesday, January 16th.
SEIU-West Education Support Staff Stands with the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (the STF) has been bargaining with the Government and Trustee bargaining committee. They have reached an impasse and are unable to make any progress. The STF has notified their members that they will be holding a vote on sanctions against their employer.
Convention 2023: Constitutional Amendments
The following Constitutional Amendments were debated, voted on, and passed during Convention:
Member letter to SEIU-West: We Are All Purple Family!
We received a letter from one of our members sharing her daughter’s art work. SEIU-West is proud to have such talented and supportive family members! Check out their message and drawing!
June is National Indigenous History Month!
June is National Indigenous History Month!
Win of the Week! June 3 – 9
SEIU-West is proud to announce a big win for the members who work for Town of Shaunavon! The SEIU-West bargaining committee reached a tentative agreement with their employer, and some of the highlights include a market adjustment for maintenance staff, worth approximately 2.5% and which applies to the majority of the members at this bargaining unit. They also achieved a 1-1 & 2% wage increases over the next 3 years! Members saw their pension plan employer contribution increased, and also saw improvements to working at a higher paid classification. In a climate where rollbacks are pressured, our bargaining team did an excellent job raising expectations for future bargaining.
Thank you to the bargaining team for their hard work in reaching a fair deal!
Purple Day: June 14!
Young Workers Present: Shining A Light On…Service Animals
Young Workers Present: Shining A Light On…Service Animals
Win of the Week! May 27 – June 2
This week we are celebrating the successful pay raise Support Workers at Elmwood Group Homes (EGH) achieved through their solidarity and commitment to fairness! Their win at the bargaining table has been resonating through many news articles across several provinces in Canada! We are proud of their enormous achievement and we congratulate them on their accomplishment.
The solidarity and strength of our members at EGH has been remarkable; these Support Workers are People Who Care. Support Workers at EGH, in an effort to assist other Community Based Organizations (CBOs) are hosting a Community BBQ this week. It’s a Thank You BBQ celebrating the successful bargaining process and highlights the need to support other CBOs. For the upcoming BBQ on June 11, all donations will go to the Saskatoon Sexual Assault & Information Centre who have recently cut services due to funding shortfalls. EGH Support Workers demonstrate true solidarity and we’re proud to call them members of our SEIU-West family.
Joint Bargaining Update from SEIU-West, CUPE, and SGEU: May 28
Your SEIU-WEST, CUPE and SGEU bargaining coalition met on May 22 and 23rd in Saskatoon with SAHO.
The overall theme of this session is disappointment. SAHO and the Government of Saskatchewan are focused on concessions within the Extended Health and Dental plan for health care providers, and your Unions are not interested in allowing concessions in any form.
During a week when the Government of Saskatchewan has given a 3.5% wage increase to elected politicians and provided additional funding for legislative secretaries, we believe it is morally and strategically questionable that they would be coming after health benefits for health care workers!
Our members’ stance of No Cuts, No Roll Backs and No Concessionscontinues to provide direction to your bargaining committees. We maintain the position that health care providers should be treated with respect and paid what we are worth.
Wage discussions have been deferred at this point. While we seem to be close on some issues, outstanding items are the surplus and continued funding of our Extended Health and Dental Plan and workload language. The unions support each other by proposing each union have similar language regarding workload. As we all know workload is a systemic issue within the health care system.
Future dates to continue negotiations are being confirmed. We strongly encourage all of our members to contact their elected MLA to voice their support for the bargaining team and a fair and equitable collective agreement. Your unwavering support is what drives us.
In Solidarity,
SEIU-West, CUPE and SGEU
MEDIA RELEASE: Support Workers Ratify Tentative Agreement
Support Workers Ratify Tentative Agreement
Win of the Week! May 20 – 26
For this week, SEIU-West wants to acknowledge our amazing members who entered their game slogans to win tickets to the RUSH home game on May 26th. We had many entries and it was hard to pick the best two. In the spirit of #purplehasfun, this shows just how creative and entertaining our members can be!
The two winning slogans are:
You can look North, South, East, but we who belong to SEIU-West know that the RUSH are the best!!!!!!
Let’s go purple! Let’s go green! Let’s stand together! Let’s make a scene!
Runner up slogans from our members:
We’re purple, they’re green and together you’ll hear us scream!
In the SEIU-West, the RUSH are the Best!
Don’t RUSH our union, it’s the best! Gooooo SEIU-West!
SEIU-West, RUSHes to the Rescue!
I get a RUSH when I hear SEIU-West!
SEIU-West will never RUSH for a fair contract!
Thank you everyone for participating in our ticket give-away!
If you don’t want to miss out on our contests and updates, remember to sign up for our text messaging alerts by texting the words SEIU to the number 52267!
Win of the Week! May 13-19
SEIU-West wants to acknowledge the incredible efforts members have taken to demand quality health care in Saskatchewan. They’ve met with, called, and written their MLAs while also encouraging their communities to do so. Over 1400 SEIU-West and community members signed and collected postcards that were delivered to the Minister of Finance on May 11, and more still are being collected! These postcards have a message to the Minister of Finance – stop the rollbacks and cuts to our public health care services! Members are organizing meetings, rallies, and building relationships with community members and organizations who understand the need to act. Your actions are making a difference – together, we can stop the cuts and ensure our health care is properly staffed and prioritized. We’re stronger together!
MEDIA RELEASE: Properly Funded Health Care, Wish You Were Here
Properly Funded Health Care, Wish You Were Here…
Win of the Week! May 6-12
SEIU-West recently held Technical Course on Investigations & Progressive Discipline courses for member leaders who currently hold unit positions. This advanced course was designed and facilitated by SEIU-West representatives who worked alongside our trained member-facilitators who ensured the material was delivered well. Last week, we held two courses in Saskatoon and this week we’re hosting the course in both Swift Current and Moose Jaw! We’ve received rave reviews from the attendees – hear what some members had to say:
“I was impressed with the practical scenarios to work through throughout the day.”
“This was an excellent course loaded with helpful information!”
“It was very enlightening and educational. I will walk away today with a better understanding of the proper procedures.”
We are delighted to hear that our member leaders are all the more prepared to effectively represent their coworkers in the workplace.