Date: March 7, 2024
Sisters, Brothers, and Friends,
Due to the storm that hit the province on the weekend, your SEIU-West Bargaining Committee met with SAHO and the SHA on March 5 & 6 virtually. Bargaining is a complex and intense process and doing this work virtually is not ideal.
We are doing a comprehensive review of both our proposal and SAHO’s in order to provide a clear response. We have tabled a proposal package and SAHO has tabled a proposal package, so the need to provide responses in a clear and coherent manner to avoid confusion is paramount.
We’ve also met with senior SHA leaders and the Associate Deputy Minister of Health to discuss recruitment issues and to reinforce with those senior leaders that initiatives and opportunities regarding retaining of health care workers is equally important. The work of our health system relies on more than doctors and registered nurses: it truly is a team of people who keep the system running. From the maintenance of infrastructure to the food and cleanliness of our facilities, to the technologists who provide the tests that make a diagnosis possible, to the members of the whole nursing team who are able to work to their full scope of practice and partner in providing hands on care. It is the people who are behind the scenes managing information and resources, as well as those who are in front of the public. The stories that you have shared with the Bargaining Committee about your work environment, the pressures/challenges, and heroic efforts that you all put in to provide quality care to the Saskatchewan public—these were shared with SHA, the Ministry of Health, and our coalition partners, SGEU and CUPE.
The Bargaining Committee’s purpose is clear: we have received your messages that status quo is not acceptable. That the cost of living is crushing all of us. That incremental change for staffing and wages and workload will not be enough. Keep the messages coming! We will use these to illustrate the urgency of the moment for SHA, SAHO, and the Government of Saskatchewan. Invest in healthcare—invest in healthcare workers!
We will be holding virtual townhalls in April—keep an eye out for the scheduling information and posters.
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