Last year, SEIU created a survey for members about climate change and the impact on your lives.
Pinned
June is National Indigenous Peoples Month. This is a time to honour the rich history, resilience, and diversity of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. It is an opportunity to reflect on historical and current injustices and commit to true reconciliation in Canada.
The First Nations, Métis and Inuit Committee would like to share some events and resources with you and encourage you to participate in events in your area.
SEIU-West is hosting our first Asian Pacific Islander Summit in Saskatoon on September 24-26, 2026 — an event to bring together workers from across Canada and the U.S.
Being an API member in Canada or the U.S can sometimes feel isolating. You might not have seen yourself in leadership. You may not have always felt seen or understood. But you can find a home with us. We believe in you. We see you. And most importantly, you belong.
Welcome home.
There is currently a vacancy on the SEIU-West Executive Board for members that work for the Community Based Organizations Sector.
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.
Print off your copy of your SEIU-West/SAHO Bargaining Update No.1
Greetings Sisters and Brothers,
On March 7, the coalition of health provider unions (SEIU-West, CUPE and SGEU) had our first meeting with the Sask. Association of Healthcare Organizations (SAHO) to begin the process of bargaining our new collective agreements. The parties did not formally exchange proposal packages, rather our discussions dealt with processes (traditional or collaborative) of negotiations, logistics, and some of the outside factors that could influence bargaining. When we talk about ‘outside factors’ we mean government.
You see government is not supposed to interfere in collective bargaining; while it is the funder of health care, the system is run by the regional health authorities. The theory behind this relationship is to let the employers (RHA’s) and their negotiator (SAHO) achieve the best deal at the bargaining table without the influence/interference of politicians. Sadly, for everyone involved, government decided to interfere significantly.
In the middle of our meeting, while the provider unions were caucusing, SAHO came back into the room to deliver a message on behalf of the Minister of Finance. As many of you will have heard or read about, the Minister of Finance wrote to each union to outline that government Ministers and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA’s) were being asked to take a 3.5% wage reduction. Further to that, their political staffers were going to agree (voluntold?) to nine unpaid days off per year (equivalent to 3.5%). We were then ‘invited’ to give the government our ideas around how the unions were going to achieve the savings target within the public sector.
Let’s be clear here, politicians make a heck of a lot more than most health care workers; the base salary of an MLA is approximately $96,000/year…a 3.5% reduction brings their salary down to approximately $93,000/year. Compare that same 3.5% reduction for someone working on the front line of health care for $20-$30/hour… a 3.5% reduction is like losing approximately two weeks of pay per year! That is a significantly different impact on a household budget!!
This hard target by the Sask Party government comes literally in the middle of our very first meeting with SAHO and the health regions to begin bargaining. The provider unions are now facing the threat of concession demands at the bargaining table, another reorganization of the health care structure (and the inevitable resulting chaos), changes in the governance of our benefit plans, and now this?!
This round of bargaining is going to be difficult, it’s going to be troubled and it’s going to test all of us. You have heard this before, every round of bargaining is more difficult than the last. We need all of our members to stand up with their union bargaining committee to demonstrate your support and determination that we need a fair and reasonable collective agreement that we can accept.
We have decided to set additional dates to meet after the upcoming budget address on March 22, where we may get further information about the Minister of Finance and the government’s targets and directions. We will be meeting with our bargaining committees and our coalition of unions to analyze the potential impact to our proposals and establish bargaining plans.
We encourage you to share your questions and concerns about bargaining with the SEIU-West bargaining committee by contacting us through the Member Resource Center at 1-888-999-7348 Ext 2298 or contact us through the “contact us” form on SEIUWEST.ca.
Your participation in your Union makes your Union strong.
In Solidarity,
Your SEIU-West Provincial Bargaining Committee
CHR: Janice Platzke (SEIU-West Treasurer) • FHHR: Brenda Berry; Donna Gallant • HHR: Colleen Denniss • SHR: Judy Denniss; Rick Brown; Simone Corriveau; Kim Wyatt; Charlene Sarafin; • Staff: Bob Laurie (Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Russell Doell (Deputy Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Kerry Barrett (Negotiations Officer) • President: Barbara Cape
SEIU-West offers 20 scholarships of up to $750 every year:
- 10 for members
- 10 for children of members.
The quality of the applications makes the selection process difficult. The committee wants to thank everyone who applied in 2016.
Below, you can find this year’s list of winners – Congratulations!!
PAWS: Justice for All
On April 1, 2016, SEIU-West sent a letter to our new Federal Minister of Health, Jane Philpott, outlining our concern around the expiry of the Canada Health Accord. We have received a response:
Related Documents:
April 1st Letter from SEIU-West
On October 21, SEIU-West received a response from our Federal Minister of Health regarding the expired Health Accord. Here is our response to the Honourable Jane Philpott:
Related Documents:
April 1st Letter from SEIU-West
Unionism on Turtle Island: Report
PAWS: Safety
October 20, 2016
Earlier this year, notifications and applications were posted on www.seiuwest.ca for the SAHO/Extendicare Bargaining Conference and Bargaining Committee. On October 2-3, 2016, roughly 110+ SEIU-West health care members engaged in a highly productive and informative two days. At the Conference, we were also pleased to announce who will make up our SAHO and Extendicare Bargaining Committee teams – and I’m happy to share this information with you now:
-
Celeste Dixon – Extendicare Sunset
- Tanya Ziffle – Extendicare Elmview
- Lynette Pinfold – Extendicare Moose Jaw
- Teresa Roux – Extendicare Preston
- Rick Brown – SHR
- Simone Corriveau – SHR
- Colleen Denniss – HHR
- Brenda Berry – FHHR
- Donna Gallant – FHHR
- Judy Denniss – SHR
- Kim Wyatt – SHR
- Kim Deitner – SHR
- Janice Platzke – CHR/SEIU-West Treasurer
- Russel Doell – Deputy Director, Collective Bargaining and Enforcement (Staff)
- Kerry Barrett – Negotiations Officer (Staff)
- Bob Laurie – Director, Collective Bargaining and Enforcement (Staff)
- Barb Cape – SEIU-West President
The time commitment for the SAHO/Extendicare Bargaining Committee is substantial, and I want to thank each and every single committee member who agreed to taking on such a large undertaking – it certainly was a hard decision to make!
I believe that this group of members, leaders and staff is truly committed to ensuring the best possible collective agreement for all SAHO and Extendicare members – I look forward to working with this great team!
In the meantime, we ask that all our health care members engage in current government initiatives that will affect our public health care system.
Transformational Change in Health Care:
Our provincial government has set out on a path of “Transformational Change” in our Saskatchewan health care system, yet it is riddled with mystery.
“Transformational Change” within health care in Saskatchewan must be questioned and explained – why the lack of clear definitions? Why is there not meaningful consultation? Why is the mandate solely to reduce the number of Regional Health Authorities? Has my government considered other means to ensure efficiency in quality health care?
Members of the public and frontline health care workers deserve transparency – we urge you to send a letter questioning the purpose of health care reform:
Click “Participate” to send a letter through our campaign page to the Minister of Health Jim Reiter!
In Solidarity,
Barb Cape
Letter of Support for the Camp of Sacred Stones
SEIU-West sent a letter of support and solidarity to our brothers and sisters holding the line at the Colonialism No More Camp in Regina.