Date: February 3, 2025

Sisters, Brothers, and Friends,

Your SEIU-West Bargaining Committee met with SAHO and the SHA during the week of January 21-23, 2025.

We continue to have to reinforce to SAHO that we are not interested in changing our collective agreement language simply for the sake of change. It seems like the Union is the only party that wants to get to the issues that are meaningful to our members. We understand and absolutely agree with our members that the priority is a fair general wage increase that addresses our collective issues with cost of living and the ability to afford to live and work in Saskatchewan.

Some members have asked why we haven’t negotiated the general wage increases yet. In the past when we bargained our Collective Agreement, the parties negotiated the non-monetary issues (individual Union CBA language) before we negotiated the common monetary issues (wages, premiums, benefits, etc.) The process is a result of the provincial Joint Job Evaluation pay equity plan which sets out that all positions in each and every job classification must be compensated the same, regardless of provider Union.

The Bargaining Committee shared our members’ impatience and frustration with the pace of this process and the lack of meaningful progress toward the financial part of bargaining. The provider unions met with SAHO in November and requested we pause the non-monetary negotiations to concentrate on finalizing the common monetary issues. We would conclude the language negotiations after our members received their hard earned and long overdue compensation increases. SAHO indicated they would get back to us but have not offered any response to date.

Your SEIU-West Bargaining Committee has been reviewing job descriptions and have established our Essential Services Committee in order to prepare to negotiate an Essential Services Agreement. The Committee wants to be ready to execute and implement an Essential Services Agreement in the event we reach impasse at the collective agreement bargaining table.

In order to reach impasse at the collective agreement bargaining table, we need to present a comprehensive proposal to SAHO that includes a proposal on general wage increases and all Articles in the collective agreement related to money. We are working on those detailed proposals and are consulting our coalition partners, CUPE and SGEU.

Thank you to our members for standing up and showing up for the information pickets that have been happening throughout the province. You’re brilliant! Keep it up! Your message is being noticed! If you pass a workplace having an information picket, please honk and stop and join the picket line, even for a few minutes. When our members show that they are prepared to picket and put their boots to the ground in support of their SEIU-West Bargaining Committee, SAHO and their principals take notice. Your support makes us strong!

If you have collective agreement questions or issues, contact the Member Resource Center at 1-888-999-7348 ext. 1, email [email protected], or complete the Contact Us form on our website, www.seiuwest.ca.

In Solidarity on behalf of the SEIU-West Bargaining Committee

Barbara Cape
President
SEIU-West


Your SEIU-West SAHO Provincial Bargaining Committee:

CHR: Janice Platzke (SEIU-West Treasurer) • FHHR: Brenda Berry, Barbara Bubyn • HHR: Colleen Denniss • SHR: Rhonda Bzdel, Chris Clark, Jeanne Javinal, Carla Saworski, Charlene Sarafin • Extendicare: Kevin Martin • Staff: Bob Laurie (Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement), Russell Doell (Deputy Dir. of Bargaining and Contract Enforcement • President: Barbara Cape

 

 

Click here for a printable version of this Bargaining Update

 

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