SASKATOON — Service Employees International Union-West vice-president Jason Monteith said he appreciates the efforts made by Labour Minister Ken Cheveldayoff to meet with union members last week. Still, he admitted more work is needed to finally reach a fair deal that would benefit almost 14,000 health-care workers in the province.
Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5430, which represents the province’s front-line health-care workers, will hold a strike vote from Sept. 8 to 14 as negotiations continue to drag on. CUPE 5430 members work in health care, including support services, facility-based support and administrative roles, while about 11,400 SEIU-West members are in nursing, clerical, technical and other support roles.
“We appreciate Minister Cheveldayoff and his government taking the time to listen to our members, but now we need action, not just listening. The government has heard our concerns, and now it's their opportunity to show our members that they take them seriously,” said Monteith, who joined Opposition Leader Carla Beck on Tuesday, Aug. 18, across from Cheveldayoff’s constituency office on Central Avenue.
“SEIU-West is calling on this government to sign the deal that will settle the contract with a decent and fair deal for our members. Over 30,000 health-care workers in this province have gone over four and a half years without a pay increase and over three and a half years without a contract. It's simply unacceptable.”
Negotiations between SEIU-West and the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations remain at an impasse, with wages, cost of living, monetary priorities and workplace movement remaining the key bargaining issues. The employer is firm in its demand for the freedom to move workers across locations, while union representatives want existing workplace safeguards.
Monteith said morale among health-care workers is down because they are frustrated by being overworked and short-staffed and have been without a collective agreement since it expired in March 2023. He said that is why they are calling on the provincial government to act now after government leaders met with and listened to them recently.
“As the negotiations take longer and longer, [workers’] morale is going down. Workers are choosing to leave health care, and we want to make sure that we're providing the best possible care for the people of Saskatchewan, and it's difficult to keep health-care workers without a fair collective agreement,” Monteith added.
Beck, meanwhile, said the ongoing health-care worker crisis is the result of government inaction, stemming from almost two decades of the Saskatchewan Party being in power. She also quoted Cheveldayoff, who said that “politicians set the overall parameters, not the exact details. It is time to reach an agreement.”
“Ken Cheveldayoff is the Minister of Labour in Saskatchewan, and he's now publicly admitted that his government sets the parameters for bargaining. The question is: what exactly are these guys waiting for to get a deal for health-care workers? Health-care workers don't need another Sask. Party minister telling them that they hope we find a solution to this problem,” Beck said.
She added that political will and a government mandate are needed to get to the negotiating table and ensure health-care workers receive a collective agreement that will help recruit additional personnel in the health-care sector. She said that is preferable to a government that merely suggests it hopes a deal will be reached soon, even as a provincial minister acknowledges the government sets the mandate.
“The Minister of Health proudly posts a photo of himself buying a Blizzard to support health care. It would really support health-care workers and health care in this province to get those workers a deal, retain those health-care workers, increase your ability to actually recruit more health-care workers, and stop the closures, the short shifts, the workers working short in this province,” Beck said.
“This is a government that seems not to understand that they have the power to ensure that a deal gets done in this province, and I think that's some of the frustration that you're hearing from those health-care workers — a government that, you know, suggests that, you know, they care, but refuses actually to ensure that there's a deal at the table.”
The government, in a statement, said the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations is the designated agency to negotiate with all health care unions on behalf of all employers in the industry, and that it is inappropriate for a minister to be part of the negotiations.
"[The] government’s responsibility is to provide a bargaining mandate to SAHO. It would be inappropriate for Ministers to be directly involved in the bargaining process. We know the best deals are reached at the bargaining table, and our government has asked employers and unions to work together to find an agreement that works for health care workers, patients, and communities," said the government.
The statement added that updates on the current collective bargaining process are available on the SAHO website.
