SEIU-West Member Update: Extendicare Transition

Barbara Cape – President, Neil Colmin – Vice President, Bob Laurie – Director of Contract Bargaining and Enforcement, Katelyn Thibeault – Staff Representative, and Lynette Pinfold – Staff Representative were present.

On October 12, SEIU-West held a townhall meeting through ZOOM with our members who work at the former Extendicare (now SHA) facilities. The following update was provided and then an opportunity to ask questions was held.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) notified SEIU-West on Friday October 7, 2022 at 2:30 pm that the transfer agreement was not signed off on yet. It was signed off on as of October 9, 2022.

We do not have any details related to the terms of the Extendicare/SHA/Government of Saskatchewan transition agreement. We were not a party to the discussions/negotiations.

Our SEIU-West/Extendicare collective agreement remains in place and all the rights and processes remain the same.

There is a process in the Saskatchewan Employment Act (SEA) that sets out rules for a situation like this where the business is transferred or sold to another entity—it is called successorship. The SHA is claiming successorship applies and thus SEIU-West and SUN will remain the representative unions for our members. We agree that successorship applies to this situation. We are having discussions with our partner unions, CUPE and SGEU healthcare providers about successorship rights.

The SHA is preparing onboarding for current and new staff including Quality and Safety; Transfer Lifting and Repositioning; Gentle Persuasion; and general orientation. We would encourage you to take and participate in all the training/orientation opportunities offered. This is a new employer in this workplace, and we want to make sure you have access to all the tools available.

At this point, we are preparing to have an Extendicare member rep at the bargaining table with SAHO and SHA. That representative will be Teena Foote from Sunset. Members from the former Extendicare facilities participated in the bargaining survey, they are participating in the bargaining conference and the bargaining committee.

We will need to have discussions with the SHA about outstanding grievances and any files that are going to arbitration. For members who are co-employed with Extendicare and the SHA, we need to have discussions about how to manage seniority and benefits gained with both employers and how to address people who work more than FT hours.

We are still waiting on information about personnel files and if they transfer whole to the SHA or not.

We do not have any information on which Out of Scope (OOS) managers or supervisors were offered employment with SHA.

Questions/answers:

1. So we are going to CUPE or separate collective agreement?
   • We will remain with SEIU-West and participate in the next round of bargaining with SAHO and SHA with an Extendicare member rep at the bargaining table. That person is Teena Foote from Sunset.
2. Will CCAs that are not certified but on an agreement to get their certificate in a certain amount of time still be allowed to work under that agreement they had with Extendicare?
   • This relates to the conditional hire language in the collective agreement. We say that it should carry over to the SHA employment. This is an issue we need to discuss for transition with the SHA.
3. I have an assistant cook that works full time at SHA and has worked part time at Sunset for the last 12 years and he was told that October 9^th was his last day at Sunset and that’s it?
   • The SHA was supposed to meet with members who are co-employed to address this issue. We understand that wasn’t done for all the Regina members. We are following up with the SHA on this issue.
   • With it being one employer, the collective agreement says that you can’t work more than FT hours without the triggering of OT. That is why the employer is saying that co-employed people need to make a choice between the two jobs.
   • Where you have members in this situation, they should contact the Member Resource Center (MRC) at 1-888-999-7348 Ext 2298 or email at [email protected]
4. we were recently informed that the union and the SHA have reached an agreement that they will no longer be requiring red seals from cooking staff. Will there be any preference given to staff that already have and have had their red seal since they began their employment.
   • SEIU-West, CUPE and SGEU negotiated a Letter of Understanding regarding a new classification called Health Care Cook. This is a new education program with Sask Polytechnique that was created to address the hard to recruit classification of Cook in the healthcare system.
   • The qualification is still Journeyperson Cook (not Red Seal). The Health Care cook qualification will be considered.
5. Are we anticipating NOT being accepted into the new SHA collective agreement in the future when this CBA expires?
   • No, we will have an Extendicare member representative at the bargaining table and the new collective agreement will be with SEIU-West and SAHO/SHA.
6. Will there be more position opportunities? Will we be able to bid on jobs within all SHA or just at the Extendicare homes?
   • We are following up with SHA on this issue.
7. I am working in Wascana under SHA as CCA casual and fulltime CCA in Elmview and I ask the Director of Care (DOC) what will happen to me she told me tell Wascana it should be overtime but they are giving me a schedule this weekend it’s going to be on regular shift not overtime cause the email that we received last September 1 they told that they will call us for a meeting for employee who work in another SHA and going to be SHA so do we still able to accept shift in wascana?
   • The SHA hasn’t met with all the members who are co-employed, and we are following up with them.
   • In the meantime, advise the employer where you might be in an overtime position so that they can determine whether they call you in or someone else not on overtime (OT).
8. Will all SEIU members CCA's etc., be keeping their jobs?
   • Short Answer: Yes.
   • We have not heard of any planned layoffs or workforce changes.
9. Some of the girls who also work for SHA homecare said the SHA pays for their employees to take the CCA program and LPN program, do you think that will become an option for us?
   • We recommend getting clarity on this – this sounds like a program called ‘Return for Service agreement’ where the employer will pay for training but requires the employee to sign a contract committing to a certain amount of time with the employer. If they don’t follow the agreement and leave, the employee is required to pay back the employer.
10. Have a couple members wanting to retire but worried about keeping their seniority as they want to retire but come back, be rehired in the same dept, and work casual while collecting their pension. Will their seniority remain the same?
    • If the employer hires them back in 120 days after retirement, they can keep their seniority and benefits. But if they are hired back after 120 days, they lose their seniority and benefits.
    • Our understanding is that employees who want to retire need to have a break in service. Contact SHEPP for advice and more information. Call (306) 751-8300 or go to their website at shepp.ca.
11. Are staff improvements on the way—Parkside CCAs are asking?
    • We do not know. We understand that the employer is assessing the operations right now and that would include workload.
    • Whether it's in the former Extendicare facilities or the health system as a whole – we believe that an investment in frontline staff is overdue and we continue to advocate for that.
12. Many of us full-time staff at Parkside have not been approved for our STAT days off and vacations days for quite some time, will we be paid out for these days or still be able to get the days off for those holidays eventually?
    • We will follow up on this with SHA.
    • You should not unilaterally be paid out if you’ve been requesting the time and been denied.
13. Would this be the same for wage increments and back pay for such? Our building just went through a massive overhaul to get everyone at the appropriate pay scale as it was requested by SHA but now most of us are due back pay are we not?
    • Yes, you should be getting back pay for delayed increments.
14. What would the process look like if SHA decides to get rid of positions or change the scheduled amount of hours for a position. In Laundry at Parkside, we already have one position that SHA refuses to let us fill. We are anticipating cut backs now that they don’t have the 4 beds.
    • We will follow up on this with SHA
    • We understand the SHA is assessing operations right now and this will likely be included in that review.
15. Do you know if SHA will be subcontracting out the laundry to be done?
    • No, we don’t. We will follow up on this with SHA.
    • For many SHA facilities, they have contracted out to K-Bro laundry services. We don’t know if that will be the decision within the former Extendicare facilities.
16. Is it a possibility that they will change our schedules or lines, such as switching to 12 hour shifts rather than 8's or changing rotations at all? (CCAs)
    • Any changes to the master rotation need to be compliant with the collective agreement and that includes a discussion with the union.
    • If there is a desire to introduce 12 hour shifts, that would need to be negotiated with the union and the members affected would need to vote on that.
17. Can they change our rotations without changing our hours? Right now, I work 7 on and 7 off. Would there have to be an agreement amongst staff to change that as well?
    • This would be a master rotation change that needs to be reviewed and discussed with the union.
18. Formula for the seniority hours?
    • Go to the SEIU-West website and look up the electronic copy of the SEIU-West/SAHO agreement to find the seniority date change formula.
19. When will copies of our collective agreement be available?
    • We are at the printer with them right now and will be getting the electronic version on the website next as soon as possible.

Thanks to everyone who joined us. We commit to doing our best to keeping you updated when we get more information from SHA on this transition and will be following up with these questions. Make sure you contact the Member Resource Center (MRC) if you have any questions or concerns.

CALL: 1-888-999-7348 Ext 2298
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.seiuwest.ca/contact

In solidarity and respect,

Barbara Cape
President - SEIU-West

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