REGINA, Sask. — Health care workers from across the province converged on the Saskatchewan legislature Wednesday to demand new contracts.
The CUPE “Day of Action” rally took place during the noon hour. Organizers say people at the rally travelled from across the province, including from as far away as Lloydminster and Meadow Lake.
The rally included leaders such as CUPE Saskatchewan president Kent Peterson and Opposition Leader Carla Beck, as well as members of the CUPE 5430 health care workers' union and other unions, including SEIU-West, which is also negotiating with the government.
Both CUPE 5430 and SEIU-West are still negotiating with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) to try to reach new contracts for their health care workers. CUPE 5430 members voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action earlier this fall.
CUPE 5430 president Bashir Jalloh told reporters that they “are nowhere near closer to a deal. But bargaining is going on.”
“We have been trying to close the gap. They have their priorities, we have our priorities. We have both worked towards closing that gap.
“But the biggest where we stand now is the money, the wages. And our goal, what do we want? Our goal from the start of this round of bargaining is what are we going to do to keep health care workers in Saskatchewan? That has been our goal and that will continue to be our goal.”
As for negotiations, Jalloh confirmed that he had meetings that day with government officials, including Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill.
He said he met with the minister at 7:30 a.m. that morning.
“I was here, we had a meeting with the Minister of Health, and we talked about their priorities, and he acknowledged that both sides have priorities.”
“He acknowledged us in moving towards their priorities. They have five priorities. We have three priorities, and of the three priorities, we talked about it, and I was happy to hear that he is very aware of what is happening at the day-to-day bargaining, what is happening. I believe he's been briefed every day, and he also said he acknowledged the historic practices of Saskatchewan, what has been happening in this province, including the previous premier, which is to pay every classification with the Western Canada average.”
Jalloh said he asked Cockrill, “Are you going to instruct your bargaining agent to respect that historical practice?”
“He said he will talk to them. We will wait to see that.”
Jalloh also wanted to see long-standing issues addressed, such as recruitment and retention of workers. He was dismissive of Premier Scott Moe’s claim on Tuesday that since 2022, 7,500 more health workers have been added to the system.
“That is not reflective of what we see on the ground,” Jalloh said. He added that they “continue to see short-staffing.”
He did acknowledge the government had been building new facilities and buying equipment, but said that $2 million machines were sitting unused because of a lack of people to run them.
“I challenged the Minister this morning. Do not listen to what people are saying. Go to these facilities unannounced. You will see the $2 million machines that you have bought are sitting there empty because you do not have people to run it.
“What good is this if we keep building hospitals?”
Lisa Zunti, president of SEIU-West, said she also had a meeting that morning with the finance, labour and health ministers.
“We had some good conversations, but again, we need to get this contract done and we need something fair for our workers in health care,” Zunti said. “And we want them to stop hiding behind the bargaining agent and take responsibility for ending this contract, which they've always had the power to do.”
As for the large number of health care workers who showed up outside at the rally, she called it “a bittersweet thing.”
“It is fantastic to see the amount of workers, health care workers out there calling for an end to this and a fair contract. But I feel like we shouldn't have to. We shouldn't have to be out there asking for a raise when we have been there doing the job, showing up every single day, and haven't seen any increase for four and a half years. We shouldn't have to. It's great to see them, but really, we shouldn't have to do it.”
Cockrill optimistic about progress
Speaking to reporters at the legislature, Cockrill reiterated that the government wanted to see a deal reached.
“Absolutely we want a deal, too,” Cockrill told reporters. He said they have been “making progress at all of our bargaining tables.”
“That's encouraging. I think the union leadership and myself, we'd both like to see it move quicker, but we're working hard to get a deal at all of our tables.”
Cockrill also said it was encouraging to see a tentative agreement reached with SGEU last week. He said that has freed up some more bargaining days in November for the remaining tables.
“We've added some bargaining days with CUPE next week, as well as later on in November.”
As for Jalloh’s comments that the two sides were still far apart, Cockrill replied, “I'm a perpetual optimist.”
“We've made progress just very recently with CUPE on several articles where we've reached agreement in principle with CUPE 5430. As I said, progress at all the tables. I think there's still some things to work out with CUPE 5430, as well as SEIU-West, if we're talking about health provider unions. We'll stay engaged with them at the bargaining table through SAHO to get to agreements on all those various articles.”
Cockrill acknowledged wages are one issue of importance in the discussions.
“They want to make sure their members are well compensated for the important work that they do in health care facilities, and so do we. We want to make sure that health care compensation stays competitive compared to Western Canadian average. That's really important for us from a recruitment and retention perspective.
“So, there's alignment there. We just have to continue working at the bargaining table to get to an agreement.”
NDP health critic Meara Conway expressed far less optimism about the labour situation when speaking to reporters.
“You don't see… a thousand frontline health care workers show up at their legislature the day after a Throne Speech that touts a patient-first plan because they're confident that, you know, the process at the bargaining table is moving along as it should,” said Conway.
“These are workers that have been waiting too long, they've been waiting four years for a pay raise… I can't state this strongly enough, the urgency with which we need to get a fair deal in this province. Our health care system is collapsing around us and, you know, there is damage that is being done because these health care workers, they don't feel respected and even if the deal gets done, you know, today, this causes harm. This causes stress and financial but also, you know, morale in these in these health care facilities is at an all-time low. That's what we hear each and every day.”
