News

In our most recent update, we had identified to our SEIU-West members that vacation banks, time in lieu banks and stat/pro-stat banks would be posted in your workplaces by the end of March. Unfortunately, it was only recently brought to our attention that this did not happen

For Immediate Release
April 5, 2023

Saskatchewan—In what seems to be an attempt to ignore the legitimate concerns of the largest classification of union members in the health care sector, Minister Everett Hindley declared in a legislative committee that Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) don’t deserve any retention initiatives because they are paid to do the job they do, and that’s retention enough.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and SEIU-West have resolved the outstanding grievances filed in response to the Proof of Vaccination/Monitored Testing Program.

A vacancy has arisen on the SEIU-West Political Action & Awareness committee  as a result of the resignation of a member. The remaining term will be for approximately one year and five months for this position.

We are inviting interested members to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) form to fill this vacancy. You can submit your EOI online or via paper. Please forward your EOI form to President Barbara Cape; she will work with the Top Officers who will make a recommendation to the Executive Board to appoint an eligible member to fill the vacancy for the remaining term.

The successful applicant will have the opportunity to expand their union involvement and activism in this position, and play an active role in making the connections for SEIU-West members as to why politics is important. 

If you or any of the member in your unit are interested in applying, please complete this paper Expression of Interest form or Online EOI and submit it to Barb Cape's attention by Monday, November 24, 2019. In the meantime, if you or your members have any questions please feel welcome to contact Barb at (306) 693-7922 (ext. 8730) or email [email protected].

Read the latest editorial written by President Barb Cape in recognition of Health Care Providers Week - and don't forget to celebrate this week! You can request funding for your Unit's celebration at this link. 

As we celebrate Health Care Providers Week, let’s take the opportunity to pause and think about the incredible amount of work that health care providers do every day across a myriad of classifications for their patients, clients and residents.

This dedicated and caring team of professionals includes technologists with specialized skills to frontline nursing staff who provide direct hands-on care and technical expertise; administrative professionals who manage scheduling, billing, and the ‘behind the scenes’ ebb and flow of work; our environmental services workers who provide a clean, safe and healthy place for our patients, clients, and residents to recover; our food and dietary services staff who ensure proper nutrition; our medical device reprocessing staff who ensure equipment and tools are sterilized; our facility and trades people who manage the infrastructure needs and challenges of our new and aging buildings; and our security officers who keep a watchful eye to ensure everyone in and around the buildings are safe.

They all play a vital role in the provision of health care services. SEIU-West invites you to celebrate every person on the health care team. All members of the team bring value and skill to keeping our public health care system running. This is truly the crown jewel of our provincial public service system as it reaches into so many aspects of our lives.

Unfortunately, our system has been understaffed for far too long.

This chronic understaffing has led to people not choosing health care as a career because of the stagnant wages, which leaves those left in the system to do more with less people – putting them at risk both physically and emotionally.

We are encouraged by the commitment to build new facilities. However, we need people to provide the services that are being offered within these new buildings.

You deserve quality public health care services. We are calling on you, members of the public, to help protect your public health care system and the people who provide the services by telling the government to put care first – end understaffing.

Send your letter of support today; visit EndUnderstaffing.ca.

Please join SEIU-West in celebrating health care providers and the incredible skill and dedication they bring to work every day.

Barbara Cape
President, SEIU-West

SEIU-West is in the process of recruiting up to seven facilitators for our internal membership training programs. The successful applicants will excel in communication and leadership skills, and will gain valuable knowledge around their union’s practices and the greater labour movement.  Are you outgoing, friendly, approachable, and energetic?  If so, this facilitator training opportunity may be for you!

The facilitator training is a four day workshop that will provide sessions on popular education, active listening, class/group dynamics, diffusing situations, and how to deliver education in a fun and interactive way. The facilitation skills you’ll learn will create confidence amongst participants. Most importantly, this confidence will help strengthen the necessary skills to spark action on issues that matter to workers.

The facilitator course will run from February 18-21 at the Saskatoon Office – 747 46th Street West. Applicants must be available to attend all four days of training as well as one evening session on the 19^th.

As per our usual practice, your union will cover travel, hotel, and meal expenses. You will also be reimbursed for lost wages or will be provided with an honorarium for your attendance on days not scheduled to work.

Applicants will need to fill out the Facilitator Training Expression of Interest Form and Registration Form and submit them to Catherine Gendron by email at [email protected] or by fax at 306-652-1392.  You can apply online or apply via paper. The deadline for applications is November 24, 2019.  

Related documents (downloadable PDF format):

EOI/Registration Form - online application

EOI/Registration Form - pdf application

Poster

Saskatoon, October 24, 2019

Click here to download a printable PDF file of Canadian Blood Services: Bargaining Update No. 1

Click here to download SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 9

Date: October 24, 2019

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Your SEIU-West bargaining committee met with SAHO and the Employer, along with conciliator Dan Ish in our continued engagement in voluntary conciliation. Despite the parties efforts there was no progress made, so both SAHO and ourselves have agreed to ‘pause’ the conciliation process with the option to resume if we receive any information that indicates there are more resources available at our bargaining table to conclude an agreement.

SAHO and the Employer was given a clear message that they needed to come to the session on the 23rd at 9:30 am – with their proposals to share with us. They did not.  The conciliator described an ‘elephant in the room’, which is the potential impact of other public sector agreements. Specifically, the UNIFOR/Crowns tentative agreements where UNIFOR claims to have ‘broken the mandate’. There was reluctance to move forward without knowing the details of that deal and without any assurance additional monies would be made available to SEIU-West health care providers as a result.  SAHO has indicated that their government partners have not disclosed the specifics of the UNIFOR settlements regarding the mandate.

Both parties identified disappointment in that more ‘creative’ options to achieve an agreement were not generated.  The difference between the message received from our members that money was the outstanding issue and the message SAHO received from their principles (aka the government of Saskatchewan) that they refuse to consider advancing any ‘new money’ curtailed any opportunity for a fair deal.

SAHO indicated that our members shouldn’t expect to see other settlements for other groups of members and believe that it would be applied to them.  We indicated our members see additional resources provided to other bargaining tables and significant new money provided for SHA projects, out-of-scope staff and MLAs, and believe added resources need to be committed to their Collective Agreement. 

Our bargaining committee has been patiently waiting for SAHO and the Employer to respond to our proposals.  Our patience has not been rewarded.  So, we have determined (and communicated this with SAHO, Employer and the conciliator) that we will be going to the membership to ask for a mandate for job action.

Your SEIU-West bargaining committee will be setting up virtual townhall meetings and a roadshow to come out to meet with our membership in order to seek a mandate for job action.

While your committee is on the membership roadshow we committed to continuing discussions should there be any movement, progress or information about improvements to the public sector mandate. Please keep an eye on the SEIU-West website, Facebook page, and your union bulletin board for information updates; venues, dates and times for meetings and voting.

And please remember to show your support for our bargaining efforts.  You can contact the Minister of Finance, Donna Harpauer (306) 787-6060 OR [email protected];  the Minister of Health, Jim Reiter (306) 787-7345 OR [email protected]; the new Minister of Rural and Remote Health, Warren Kaeding (306) 798-9014 OR [email protected] ; or your very own MLA (http://www.legassembly.sk.ca/mlas/). Explain to them the need for a fair offer; and how an adequate monetary package is necessary to recruit and retain quality staff. If you would like some assistance, call the MRC at 1-888-999-7348 extension 1 and an officer will put you in contact with someone who will help you.

If you have not already done so, you can also add your name to the www.endunderstaffing.ca  campaign that has been launched to address recruitment and retention in our health care system. Wages are a critical component to ensure that we have appropriate staffing levels.

Your SEIU-West bargaining committee appreciates your support and engagement.

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 Contract Bargaining and Enforcement); Russell Doell (Deputy Dir. of Contract Bargaining and Enforcement); Cam McConnell (Negotiations Officer) • President: Barbara Cape

Recently, an employer did not adhere to our collective agreement in health care as they placed a full-time employee on the casual list in a different classification. This not only resulted in a collective agreement issue, it led to other members not getting calls for shifts as they would have before. SEIU-West therefore filed a grievance and this issue has been resolved. It is vital that we enforce our collective agreement so everyone’s rights are protected. What a great win!

SEIU-West is delighted to share that we had a very successful training on Investigations & Formal Documentation, with over 100 participants! Experienced Stewards expanded their knowledge in the steps to a successful investigation and learned what to do and what not to do in the use of applicable documents. They also learned about the importance of preparedness when investigating, recording, and documenting at the shop-floor level.

Some feedback from the workshop included;

“Excellent course! Very helpful tips and information.”

“Everyone needs this!”

“Great session, lots of discussion.”

“Informative, good case files.”

SEIU-West is excited to see these members utilize the skills they gained in order to make our workplaces better places to work. Way to go!

In addition to Education Week this week, SEIU-West is proud to recognize and celebrate Facilities and Engineering Week!

The work of our members in Facilities and Engineering is crucial to the success of the health care team and positive outcomes for those they care for.  We need heating, water and lighting systems to be well-organized and operational; this is required to support quality health care environments that patients, residents, visitors and staff rely on. The SEIU-West members who make up the Facilities and Engineering department ensure our health care environments are safe, comfortable, and efficient.

Members who work in Facilities and Engineering work in a variety of fields including:  Building and Energy Maintenance, Construction, Waste Management, Groundskeeping and Landscaping, and Clinical and Plant Engineering. 

SEIU-West Facilities and Engineering workers are a vital part of efficient health care work environments – none of us could successfully complete our jobs without them! So in honor of our members who work in Facilities and Engineering, we are holding a contest and you can nominate a member of the Facilities and Engineering team who really makes a difference in your workplace.  It could be their positive attitude, their awesome work, or the way they support the whole health care team.

Please send in your nominations, along with a sentence or two as to why they deserve to win to [email protected] by October 27, 2019. Your nominee could win one of several great prizes!

Put Kids First: By Barbara Cape, President of SEIU-West

As the school year continues on, we have an opportunity to celebrate Education Week (October 20 – 26. 2019) and to put kids first. But this is no mere platitude, rather a call to recognize the value of education and the impact on our province.

Saskatchewan has undergone some dramatic changes in the past ten years.  Our provincial government boasts an increase in population and a strong economy.  Our Premier publicly states that he is standing up for Saskatchewan.  We need to engage on this undertaking with him – is he really standing up for our younger generation? Is he standing up for education?

We lost approximately 350 Education Assistant jobs during the boom years. This was followed up by the 2017-18 budget, where the education sector experienced deep cuts to the tune of 54 million dollars; in the 2018-19 budget funding was restored but only to the extent of 30 million dollars. In our current budget year school operating grants were reduced by 31.5 million dollars. This leaves us struggling at significantly reduced budget levels. The real world impact of those funding cuts has been larger classroom sizes; reduced services in maintenance and infrastructure; further cuts to all staff who work as Librarian and Education Assistants, Administrative Assistants, and Maintenance, among others. When classroom sizes balloon and resources are stripped, it is the students who suffer. With a growing population, the program cuts for English as an Additional Language and supports for students with special needs are particularly concerning…our kids need our support!

Your voices and collective wisdom can make the difference in the decision of the government to ensure that we have more staff: Teachers, Education Assistants, Maintenance, Administrative and Library Assistants. Our province depends on the education that we can provide: high quality education is a silver bullet that can promote prosperity and progress for our future society.

The time is now – during Education Week – reach out to your MLA and ask them to put kids first – end understaffing.  Our children deserve a safe, comfortable and well supported learning environment.

Click here to find out more ways to support Education Week. 

Click here to download SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 8

Date: October 10, 2019

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Your SEIU-West bargaining committee was scheduled to meet in Moose Jaw on October 7-10 with SAHO and the Employer, for voluntary conciliation. The parties had agreed to use Dan Ish as conciliator in order to see if we could find common ground to reach a tentative agreement. Unfortunately, the parties did not make any measureable success that we can report.

During the brief time we spent face-to-face with SAHO, we talked about the issues, concerns and challenges in the bargaining process over the last two and one-half years. We reiterated the statement we heard loud and clear, over and over again on the roadshow, “There is not enough in this offer to make me vote Yes”.  Your bargaining committee was prepared to be creative in our proposals if we had the ability to do so.

The conciliator met separately with the parties many times to shuttle ideas and concerns between SAHO/Employer and SEIU-West committees.  Ultimately, the conciliation session ended when it became apparent that there was not going to be enough creativity at this session to find new proposals that will help us reach a tentative agreement.

SAHO and the Employer are to meet with us and the conciliator on October 23.  The committees have to engage in building proposals that deal with this round of bargaining and this Collective Agreement.  The committees need to come prepared to be flexible; they need to present realistic and acceptable ideas; and they need to have the authority to make decisions, or to have a decision maker readily available if we are to conclude bargaining this collective agreement.

Our bargaining committee (and our members’) patience is at a premium. We have spent a lot of time fighting for a fair collective agreement. We have talked to politicians, signed postcards, written letters, joined rallies, and shared our experiences working on the frontlines in health care. We are done waiting...

Thank you for your ongoing support and engagement.  And please remember that together we need to let SAHO know it’s not acceptable to present the same mandate that our members have rejected. We need you to provide clarity to those who control the purse strings. You can contact the Minister of Finance, Donna Harpauer (306) 787-6060 OR [email protected];  the Minister of Health, Jim Reiter (306) 787-7345 OR [email protected]; the new Minister of Rural and Remote Health, Warren Kaeding (306) 798-9014 OR [email protected]; or your very own MLA (http://www.legassembly.sk.ca/mlas/).Explain to them the need for a fair offer; and how an adequate monetary package is necessary to recruit and retain quality staff. If you would like some assistance, call the MRC at 1-888-999-7348 extension 1 and an officer will put you in contact with someone who will help you.

You can also add your name to the www.endunderstaffing.ca campaign that we’ve launched to address recruitment and retention in our health care system. Wages are a critical component to ensure that we have appropriate staffing levels.

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 Contract Bargaining and Enforcement); Russell Doell (Deputy Dir. of Contract Bargaining and Enforcement); Cam McConnell (Negotiations Officer) • President: Barbara Cape

SEIU-West members who work as Pharmacy Technicians are a vital part of our public health care team; they prepare, check and distribute medications and pharmacy supplies to ensure people are safely supplied their prescribed medications or over the counter medicines. They also help share relevant patient information with other health care professionals when requested.

Pharmacy Technicians assist Pharmacists, patients, residents and clients requiring medications which in turn, makes our communities healthier places to live and work. Thank you Pharmacy Technicians for your valuable work!  

To celebrate Pharmacy Technician Day, SEIU-West asks that you to participate in the Pharmacy Technician Day Contest!

With the election around the corner, Pharmacare is a big election issue. As many health care providers would agree, it is essential for people to be able to access their prescribed medications. However, without a universal drug plan, many people cannot afford their medications and end up skipping or splitting their medications. This leads to worsened health and often, with more people in the emergency room. So in recognition of the importance of Pharmacy Technicians and the work they do to provide prescribed medications, tell us: why is Pharmacare important to you? Email your answers to [email protected] by October 22, 2019 for your chance to win a great prize!

SEIU-West members who work in MDR, Security and the CLXT classification are necessary to the health care team because they help to ensure safe and quality health care provision.

Health care providers who work in MDR protect and strengthen patient safety by ensuring health care equipment is dependable, clean and effective. They inspect, assemble, sterilize, and decontaminate health care equipment – they must therefore be highly detailed in their work and meet great physical demands. Through the hard work of those who work in MDR, health care patients can expect excellence in their care.

Health care workers who work in Security are at the frontline when it comes to patient and staff care. As in any health care setting, unexpected situations can occur – Security Officers are there to provide and ensure a safe environment. Security Officers must be attentive to detail because part of their job is preventive patrol and inspection as this helps to determine whether conditions are normal. They must also be well-prepared and have the ability to respond quickly and appropriately to any number of security emergencies occurring within a health care setting.

CLXTs are vital to the success of quality and safe health care. By performing X-ray exams, Electrocardiograms (ECG) and Holter monitoring, these hard working health care technicians ensure patients receive the best care available. The role of a CLXT is to provide diagnostic tools that the entire health team relies on because they assist in the proper diagnosis and treatment of patients. CLXT’s will procure and analyze specimens, and prepare patients before any lab and x-ray procedures.

It is evident that health care providers who work in the MDR, Security, and CLXT departments are essential to safety and quality care. To recognize their value, SEIU-West is happy to announce a recognition contest!

Complete the MDR, Security, and CLXT Week Wordsearch by October 21 for your chance to win a great prize! Email your completed wordsearches to [email protected] – good luck!