President Cape Letter to Premier Moe re SAHO Bargaining (June 4, 2020)

June 4, 2020

Sent Electronically

Honourable Premier Scott Moe 
Honourable Minister of Labour Relations & Workplace Safety, Don Morgan
Honourable Minister of Health, Jim Reiter
Honourable Minister of Rural & Remote Health, Warren Kaeding
Saskatchewan Legislative Building
2405 Legislative Drive
Regina, SK S4S 0B3

Dear Honourable Premier Moe & Ministers Morgan, Reiter & Kaeding,

I write to you today on behalf of the over 12,000 members who work as health care providers in the former Saskatoon, Five Hills, Heartland, and Cypress
Health Regions, along with their families, friends, and supporters.

SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 14

Date: May 22, 2020

Greetings Sisters and Brothers,

Your SEIU-West bargaining committee was able to secure dates to meet with SAHO to resume bargaining on May 21 & 22 and 28 & 29. We agreed to meet via video conference on WebEx.

SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 13

Date: May 5, 2020

Greetings Sisters and Brothers,

As you are no doubt aware, due to the State of Emergency declared by the provincial government on or about March 17, 2020, our bargaining dates for the weeks of April 6 and 14 were cancelled. The focus for the Employer side was on managing the pandemic planning and the priority for the Union was providing support and assurance for our front line members.

SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 10

Click here to download SAHO/SEIU-West Bargaining Bulletin (2nd edition) No. 10

Date: January 17, 2020

Greetings Sisters and Brothers,

On behalf of your SEIU-West provincial bargaining committee, we want to wish all of our members a Happy New Year. We hope that 2020 brings you incredible peace and (of course) a fair collective agreement.

CAPE CHALLENGES MOE: Give SAHO the Authority & Resources to Make a Fair Deal

CAPE CHALLENGES MOE: Give SAHO the Authority & Resources to Make a Fair Deal

President's Message - Result of the Job Action Vote

The members of SEIU-West have spoken!

President's Message - Vote December 11

President's Message - Put Care First!

Sisters and Brothers,

Your Provincial Contract Action Team (ProCAT) is looking to ramp up our efforts to demand fairness and safety in health care.

We’ll be looking to our members to help ensure their communities are aware of the severe understaffing happening in health care.

A fair contract would definitely help.

If you are interested in setting up a Put Care first end understaffing event (i.e. info picket, leafleting, etc.) in your community, reach out to your ProCAT member or use the event request form to let us know.

We will provide the resources such as leaflets, necessary funding, checklists, etc. but it is vital to have a local unit members engaged and involved.

We all have to work together to keep up the pressure so we can successfully resolve this collective agreement.

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. Explain to them the need for a fair offer; and how an adequate monetary package is necessary to recruit and retain quality staff. You can also send a letter to your MLA with a simply click on our www.EndUnderstaffing.ca campaign. 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.

Remember we’re all in this together!

Please keep an eye on the SEIU-West website and your union bulletin board. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for information updates.

In solidarity,

Barbara Cape, SEIU-West President 

Technical Issues: Virtual Town Hall at 10am

At our 10 am Virtual Town Hall (VTH)  meeting today, we experienced technical difficulties and lost the sound.  Our providers are presently investigating the cause. There will be another VTH meeting this evening (November 5) at 7 pm.  We will begin roadshow meetings across the province starting November 6.  Please join us tonight for the VTH meeting or at a future meeting at your facility.  We will be posting all questions received through the VTH meetings on our website under President’s Message.

We are sorry for the inconvenience to all this am.

Media Release: SEIU-West Urges Premier Moe: Be Fair to Those Who Care

For Immediate Release - October 31, 2019

Saskatoon – Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe received an open letter today from the Service Employees International Union-West (SEIU-West), urging him to stand up for Saskatchewan health care providers. Based on statements Mr. Moe used in his recent “New Deal with Canada” letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and in the October 23rd Throne Speech, SEIU-West called on him to improve the current state of health care with “a New Deal with Health Providers”.

The open letter highlights critical short-staffing issues in Saskatchewan’s health sector, including at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, described in the letter as “the province’s major tertiary care centre, and a critical resource for the adjacent Children’s Hospital.” The letter asks how Moe’s government proposes “to recruit and retain health providers to work in understaffed facilities that are experiencing shockingly high rates of workplace injury and violence.”

“The Throne Speech talks about investing in public services to provide a better life for Saskatchewan people,” Cape added. “We urge the Premier to keep this promise, by investing in the people who provide the vast majority of front-line care.”

“Due to crushing workloads, ever increasing complex care, and less staff to work, the health care system is set to fail,” continued Cape. “We have asked the public we serve to magnify our calls for safety in the care environment. We need to stop the cycle of understaffed/overworked/injured by creating a health care work environment that attracts people to a health care career. We challenge our Premier to take the initial steps and to respond to our call for real human resource planning.”

SEIU-West’s 12,000 health care providers have been without a contract since March 31, 2017. In spring 2019, SEIU-West members strongly rejected the offer of 0%/0%/1%/2%/2% the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) proposed.

“SAHO is in constant communication with the government during bargaining,” said SEIU-West President Barb Cape, the letter’s author. “No matter what initiatives we’ve brought to the table, SAHO maintains the government’s mandate of rollbacks - two years of zero wage increases and a contract that doesn’t even cover the cost of living. Our members are clear that this is unacceptable. They know the Premier and other members of the legislature gave themselves a 5.8% pay increase over the last two years. They know the base salary for Saskatchewan MLAs has increased by over 50% since the Saskatchewan Party first formed government in 2007. All our members want is a Collective Agreement that lets them afford to work safely in health care.”

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. Purple works in our communities! Visit PurpleWorks.ca to find out more about SEIU-West members.

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For more information, contact:
Jolomi Gagar, Project Coordinator
Phone: 306-652-1011 ext. 2225

Click here to download a PDF file of Media Release: SEIU-West Urges Premier Moe: Be Fair to Those Who Care

Click here to download a PDF file of the Open Letter to Premier Scott Moe