Effective Tuesday, October 14, 2025 SEIU-West will resume mailing out member expense cheques via Canada Post.
If you have questions about the status of your MEV, please email [email protected] and one of our team members will be happy to help.
Pinned
If you are an SEIU-West member working for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and you receive a communication from your employer indicating that you owe them money back for an N/52nds overpayment, please:
Info pickets provide an opportunity for SEIU-West members to send a message to their employer and to the general public, that bargaining needs to progress and SEIU-West members deserve a fair contract!
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Date: |
July 18, 2018
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Questions? Call the MRC: 1-888-999-7348 |
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Location: |
Saskatchewan
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Units: |
Bone Creek Hutterian School • Shaunavon High School• Shaunavon Public School • Spring Lake Hutterian School• Val Marie School • Vanguard Community School • Swift Current Maintenance and Facilities Personnel |
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For Immediate Release—July 16, 2018
Saskatoon – SEIU-West announces the release of Our House Needs In-House, SEIU-West’s response to the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA’s) ongoing provincial security services review.
“The evidence is clear,” said Barbara Cape, President of SEIU-West. “The best way to keep patients, staff, and visitors safe in Saskatchewan’s health care facilities is for the SHA to hire and train its own in-house security teams.”
On July 13th SEIU-West submitted Our House Needs In-House to SHA CEO Scott Livingstone, Health Minister Jim Reiter, and several other health system leaders. (Click here to read SEIU-West President Barbara Cape’s submission letter.)
In recent years, Saskatchewan’s health authorities have reviewed health system services like laundry, information technology, and food services, in order to assess their potential for privatization.
“Our members are concerned that yet another vital piece of our public health care system is about to be privatized,” said Cape.
The SHA launched its security review this spring. The consultant hired to conduct the review was previously in charge of security for Alberta’s provincial health authority. While he was in charge, in-house officer numbers were cut, and services were contracted out to a large private security firm.
“Healthcare security is uniquely challenging,” Cape continued. “It’s different than mall security. It’s much too important to the SHA’s mission to just be contracted out to the lowest bidder.”
SEIU-West represents the 100 SHA-employed Security Officers who work at the three Saskatoon hospitals and Parkridge Centre.
As reported in Our House Needs In-House, SEIU-West surveyed SHA employees and members of the public in the Saskatoon region about the state of security at the three Saskatoon hospitals and Parkridge Centre. More than 90% of respondents felt that these facilities have greater security needs than others in the province, and that those needs have risen in the past five years.
“We heard from nurses, care assistants, housekeeping staff, members of the public,” Cape added. “They told us loud and clear: when an incident happens, they trust our in-house teams more than any outside contractor to provide a quick and professional response.”
SEIU-West represents more than 13,000 working people in the province of Saskatchewan. They include members 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!
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This week we are continuing to celebrate successful negotiations by our Union Representatives in the CBO sector! Once again, a member was dealing with an unfair employer who unjustly terminated them. This member filed a grievance which led to compensation for their lost time during the unjust termination. We are glad to serve our members by improving their rights and working conditions. Indeed, we are stronger together!
"Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a difference in someone’s life.”
SEIU-West bargaining committee members will be holding member meetings in various locations across Saskatchewan in the former Cypress, Five Hills, Heartland, and Saskatoon Health Regions starting the week of July 16, 2018.
Today we celebrate the freedom to choose or not to choose having a family. Family Planning is a Human Right is the theme for the United Nations 2018 World Population Day.
The main focus is to ensure that everyone has access to quality information about reproductive health including but not limited to birth control, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) pre- and post-natal care, birthing process, adoption, and other family planning matters.
Another member in the CBO sector is celebrating a win this week after fighting their arbitrary termination. This member decided they did not want to continue working for this unfair employer. The Union Representative was successful in negotiating a resolve that saw the member resign but receive compensation for their lost time. With bosses like these in the community based organizations, it’s no wonder why we see the turnover we do in the sector. Together, under the Purple banner, SEIU-West members are improving the rights of CBO workers and the quality for care for patients and residents throughout the province.
Purple Gets A New Look!
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT: OH&S Conference Opportunity: Deadline Passed
Another Win in the CBO sector!
A termination-eager employer in the CBO sector recently re-learned, through the grievance process, that they require cause to terminate. We congratulate our member for fighting this unjust termination and highlighting the importance of professional front-line staff in this sensitive sector while showing they will not be intimidated from standing up for their negotiated rights!
Our Union’s broad membership sees many different challenges, including underfunding of public services, short-staffing, and threats of privatization. We continue to push back against these challenges so that our members can continue to provide quality services to the highest standards of professionalism. How do we push back? With broad-based campaigns that incorporate all of our members and our solidarity within the labour movement.
June 27, 2018
Your SEIU-West, SGEU, and CUPE bargaining committees resumed bargaining on June 21, continued bargaining through the weekend, and went late into the evening of June 25.
The Unions and SAHO exchanged proposals on extended health and dental plan funding, joint trusteeship process for the benefit plans, and monetary issues related to general wage increases.
The Union Coalition felt momentum building and was hopeful that a tentative agreement would be reached. However, on the evening of June 25, the positive tone at the table quickly turned. SAHO and the Ministry of Health questioned whether your bargaining committees were committed to reaching an agreement. SAHO made comments that the Coalition was delaying the process and splitting hairs. What this translates into for our membership is that we are not willing to sell out our hard-earned collective agreement protections and benefits to get a deal.
We were close to language that would help us to get joint trusteeship of all of our benefits plans; this is incredibly important in order to ensure the health and long-term viability of these plans. It should be noted that joint governance will be a requirement of the Canada Revenue Agency in 2019, and this joint trusteeship will help both our benefit plans and members by significantly reducing plan taxation liabilities.
Your coalition bargaining committee put forward a proposal on a general wage increase that we believe was fair and reasonable. It took into consideration fiscal restraint of the province. But we were told that we hadn’t moved enough! SAHO and the Government of Saskatchewan have offered health providers less than other public sector workers – yet they are demanding concessions.
It is clear that the government wants to end the 100% employer funding commitment for our Extended Health and Enhanced Dental Plan (EHD) plan and push some of the costs onto you. We believe that the Coalition’s unwillingness to agree to rollback the funding to the EHD plan has triggered SAHO and the Government of Saskatchewan to change their mood. SAHO ended the meeting until further notice. There are currently no scheduled bargaining dates. SAHO did not accept our suggestion to access voluntary mediation to assist in concluding a reasonable collective agreement.
It is clear the Government of Saskatchewan is very much involved in this bargaining process. Please continue contacting your MLAs, Minister of Health Jim Reiter, and Minister of Rural and Remote Health Greg Ottenbreit to insist they treat health care providers fairly and with respect.
Jim Reiter – Ministry phone number: 306.787.7345; Constituency Office number: 306.882.4105
Greg Ottenbreit – Ministry phone number: 306.798.9014; Constituency Office number: 306.783.7275
We’ve informed SAHO that we are going to meet with our members to get clear direction. Please watch for notices of upcoming meetings in your area.
In solidarity,
SEIU-West, SGEU, and CUPE