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:
Media Release: Tentative Agreement Reached - SEIU-West Members to Vote
For Immediate Release - November 20, 2020
Tentative Agreement Reached – SEIU-West Members to Vote
Saskatoon – After over 1300 days without a new collective agreement, SEIU-West members achieved a tentative agreement (TA) with SAHO and the Employers late on Thursday November 19th.
“Our members have been engaged and vocal and active in sending letters to decision makers and local papers; signing and submitting petitions to the government; holding physically distanced public #DoneWaiting demonstrations; and meeting with their MLAs (prior to the pandemic). All of these actions have made a difference in getting us to this point,” says Barbara Cape, President of SEIU-West. “Bargaining in the midst of a worldwide pandemic has been challenging. For the SEIU-West bargaining committee, ensuring the work our members do on the front line of this pandemic is recognized has been our priority."
President's Message: November 20, 2020
SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 19
Date: November 20, 2020
BARGAINING UPDATE
Greetings Sisters and Brothers,
Your SEIU-West Bargaining Committee was scheduled for conciliation talks with SAHO on November 16 and 17 together with Pete Suderman, the Conciliator appointed by the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety. These dates extended into November 18 and 19.
At the end of a number of late nights, we reached a tentative agreement that we will bring to our members for ratification. Details of the tentative agreement will be shared first with our members, before they are shared more widely.
Unfortunately, because of the public health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we aren’t able to meet our members in their facilities. To ensure our members get an opportunity to review the contents of the agreement so everyone voting can make an informed decision, we are preparing the following:
- A document for members to review that will outline the changes and improvements.
- Numerous video conferences and virtual town halls to provide every member with ample opportunity to ask questions and understand the impact of the agreement.
- Multiple opportunities for members to meet the bargaining committee virtually to ask questions.
In addition, our voting process will be done electronically, rather than by paper ballot within the facilities.
We will have up to 60 days in which to complete the voting process according to The Saskatchewan Employment Act (SEA).
If you would like an electronic copy of the tentative agreement, please use the ‘contact’ link on SEIUWEST.ca. Provide your name, mailing address and facility so that we can cross reference you on our member database and we’ll send you an electronic copy.
There will be a number of questions along the way and we strongly recommend that members look for answers by attending our bargaining presentations or through the Member Resource Center (MRC) by phone 1-888-999-7348 ext. 2298 (or the contact form on SEIUWEST.ca) – we will not be answering questions through social media.
In Solidarity,
Your SEIU-West SAHO Provincial Bargaining Committee:
CHR: Janice Platzke (SEIU-West Treasurer) • FHHR: Brenda Berry; Donna Gallant • HHR: Colleen Denniss • SHR: Judy Denniss; Rick Brown; Carla Saworski; Kim Wyatt; Charlene Sarafin; • Staff: Bob Laurie (Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Russell Doell (Deputy Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Cam McConnell (Negotiations Officer) • President: Barbara Cape
MEDIA RELEASE: Stronger COVID Guidelines Welcome
For Immediate Release - November 18, 2020
Stronger COVID Guidelines Welcome
Regina – Yesterday the Government of Saskatchewan announced new public health measures to combat rapidly-rising COVID numbers. Most notably, masks must now be worn in all communities, private gatherings are now limited to 5 people instead of 10, and visits to care home residents will be allowed only for compassionate reasons. Restaurants, bars, gyms, and places of worship will remain open, but these groups will be consulted to develop safer practices. Premier Scott Moe described these measures as “not a lockdown” but rather a “one-month slowdown” in hopes of flattening the COVID curve enough to permit Christmas gatherings.
SEIU-West welcomes these measures, but is concerned they don’t do enough to acknowledge and relieve the additional burdens health sector workers have faced, and will increasingly face during this second wave of the pandemic.
“We welcome the province-wide mask order,” says Barb Cape, President of SEIU-West. “We hope this is a signal that the Government is listening to the voices of health care providers. The virus doesn’t check what a town’s population is before dropping by. Restrictions on family gatherings are important, but not having similar restrictions on restaurants, bars, athletic/recreation activities, and church services allows for another vector for infection and spread of this dangerous virus.”
“It’s incredibly unfortunate that we’ve had to move to restricting visitors to long-term care and personal care homes,” Cape continues. “If anyone understands the impact this has on residents and their families, it is health care staff. The challenge now is for health care staff to keep residents active, engaged and happy. Given the chronic understaffing that prevails in long term care, this becomes a challenge exclusively for health care staff.”
Cape calls for the Saskatchewan government to offer a temporary wage subsidy to all health care workers. “Premier Moe confirmed in the media conference yesterday that our government is sitting on tens of millions in unused federal COVID funding. Now is the right time to draw on that for the benefit of those who are on the front line fighting COVID in the hospitals, LTC/personal care homes, home care, and community based organizations. Our members are exhausted - workloads have ballooned, emotional and physical burdens have taken a toll, and the stress caused by this pandemic continues to be overwhelming. It is time for a show of real appreciation for the front line faced with COVID and its impact on the health care system. At the same time, relief is necessary - we would encourage a slowdown in SHA services in order to provide a moment for the health care system to regain a sense of equilibrium in labs, hospital services, ICU’s/COVID units, and in long term care.”
Service Employees International Union West (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. Visit PurpleWorks.ca to find out more about SEIU-West members.
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For more information, contact:
Shawna Colpitts
Director, Political Action & Education, SEIU-West
Phone: 306 652-1011 ext 2224
Media Release: Take Politics Out of COVID
For Immediate Release - November 13, 2020
Let’s Take the Politics out of COVID
Regina – Today the Government of Saskatchewan announced they were introducing new public health measures to address Saskatchewan’s rising number of COVID cases. The measures are a patchwork of weak rules driven more by the political needs of the Sask Party than by science or the experiences of front line health providers.
President's Message: November 13, 2020
Media Release: Strasbourg and Watrous Health Care Providers are #DoneWaiting for Fairness
For Immediate Release - November 12, 2020
Strasbourg & Watrous – Still in search of a fair collective agreement after over 1300 days, SEIU-West health care providers are showing their communities their frustration with the lack of progress in negotiations with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO). This is due to the Saskatchewan Party government’s refusal to fund a fair deal.
Celebrate Medical Radiation Technologist (MRT) Week!
Celebrate Medical Radiation Technologist (MRT) Week!!
For the week of November 8-14, SEIU-West is proud to celebrate the important role of MRTs in health care.
The work of MRTs are vital for quality patient care as MRTs perform imaging and radiation-related therapy, which is so often needed in our public health care system. MRTs deliver safe and professional care by relying on the important skills and experience they’ve gained in their line of work and education – MRTs will start IVs, prepare equipment, perform biopsies, angiograms, feeding tube placements and support a proper diagnosis for their patients – just to name a few responsibilities!
In recognition of their valued work, SEIU-West invites you to participate in the MRT Week Contest! We ask that you tell us – why MRTs are vital to the health care team? Email [email protected] with your answer, and you’ll be entered to win a Visa gift card or SEIU-West swag!
Contest Deadline: November 15, 2020
Want to be featured as a MRT Frontline Hero? Fill out a profile here – be sure to include a photo!
Good luck!!
Michelle: Addictions Counselor
President's Message: November 6, 2020
SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 18
Click here to download a PDF file of SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 18
Date: November 6, 2020
Greetings Sisters and Brothers,
In the October 6, 2020 bargaining update, SEIU-West informed our members that we had served formal notice of impasse to the Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety after facilitated discussions with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) failed.
As part of the process set out in The Saskatchewan Employment Act (SEA), the notice must contain information about essential services that will need to be maintained in the event of a job action. Another part of the impasse process is that the Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety needs to appoint a third party as a conciliator to assist the parties in reaching a deal.
SAHO indicated that they were unable to bargain during the election period due to the requirements to adhere to their past practice in following the Caretaker Government Convention. While we dispute this requirement, we agreed to meet via video platform in order to engage in mandatory conciliation October 29 and November 2. The Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety appointed Peter Suderman to act as conciliator in this process. We also agreed to some ground rules that needed to be negotiated as SAHO voiced some displeasure with the amount of information we shared with our members in our last updates. To that end, while the parties engage in the conciliation process, we all will honour both a confidentiality and a media ban, so there will be no bargaining in the media.
In the conciliation process, we have exchanged proposals with SAHO a couple of times to find a way forward to reach a tentative agreement. We have been very clear about the importance of our current set of proposals to our members. Many of you have shared your thoughts, concerns and colourful language about our proposals and the employer’s reluctance to accept them – we shared this information, in general, with the Employer.
The substance of SAHO’s proposal hasn’t changed from what was discussed in our October 6 update. That proposal contained significant “last minute” concessions and takeaways which will cost our members, now and in the years to come. We are firm in our resolve that the proposal SAHO presented was a significant impediment in our attempts to find common ground to achieve a settlement.
SEIU-West’s proposal hasn’t substantially changed; we have put forward proposals that we believe will form the basis of a tentative agreement that we can bring to you for your consideration and a ratification vote. We all understand that the creation of one provincial health authority introduced, for example, the need for the portability of benefits including seniority and the need for a common way to calculate seniority for all provider unions’ members. We firmly believe that this discussion must include our partner unions, CUPE and SGEU, and the Employer, in order to find a mutually agreed to way forward on this and other transition issues.
Your bargaining committee is also aware that this delay in resolving our collective agreement is frustrating for you. Your patience and determination are clear to us and we have ensured that this message has been shared with the conciliator and SAHO.
We are continuing to work on preparing for essential services negotiations, as that is a necessary part of the impasse process in getting to a position where we can take job action. We continue to ask for members to submit essential services questionnaires to provide us with a more robust picture of the different aspects of your work. You can download that form here.
Our next dates for conciliation discussions are November 16 and 17. We will provide further updates at that time.
We encourage you to reach out to your newly elected or re-elected MLAs and let them know that you are done waiting for a fair collective agreement and demand that settling this contract should be their priority.
Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the Member Resource Center by phone 1-888-999-7348 ext. 2298 or through our contact form on SEIUWEST.ca.
In Solidarity,
Your SEIU-West SAHO Provincial Bargaining Committee:
CHR: Janice Platzke (SEIU-West Treasurer) • FHHR: Brenda Berry; Donna Gallant • HHR: Colleen Denniss • SHR: Judy Denniss; Rick Brown; Carla Saworski; Kim Wyatt; Charlene Sarafin; • Staff: Bob Laurie (Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Russell Doell (Deputy Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement); Cam McConnell (Negotiations Officer) • President: Barbara Cape
Celebrate Community Worker Appreciation Day November 6!
SEIU-West is proud to recognize the dedicated members who work in the community-based organization (CBO) sector.
In celebration of Community Worker Appreciation Day, SEIU-West CBO workers joined their fellow CBO workers from across Saskatchewan for their online 2020 CBO Worker Conference on November 5, 2020.
Hosted by the CBO Committee comprised of SGEU, CUPE, and SEIU-West members, the day gave the chance for CBO workers to dig deeper in order to improve their working lives and the vital care they provide to others.
This discussion led to a deeper dive into how to better understand the six basic human needs – certainty, variety, significance, love/connection, growth, contribution – and how communication improves when we understand which of these six needs is motivating ourselves and others around us.
Our members told us that the speaker, Natasha Finell-Sukarukoff, was enjoyable and made the content fun and relatable. One attendee said: This day allowed me to pause and reflect on how the pandemic has affected me and that self-care is not selfishness. Taking care of myself means I can be better at taking care of others.
We’re delighted CBO workers were able to gather in solidarity and we can’t thank them enough for their dedication in the work they do – whether that be in a group home, a crisis centre, a child care facility, or an addictions treatment centre – the work they do is invaluable!
In recognition of Community Worker Appreciation Day, SEIU-West invites you to enter our contest! Let us know why CBO workers are important to your community – by entering, you could win a Visa gift card or SEIU-West swag!
Email your entries to [email protected] – the deadline to enter is November 13, 2020!