REGINA, Sask. — CUPE Saskatchewan Local 5430 is reporting some progress was made last week in health-care workers' negotiations with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations.
According to its latest update to union members on its website Sept. 25, CUPE Local 5430 reported that the bargaining committee met with SAHO on Sept. 24 and 25. The new talks came shortly after the announcement earlier this month that the union had voted 99 per cent in favour of job action.
"We took the strength of our members and our historic strike mandate to the table with us, and it triggered some movement,” CUPE reported. “The employer’s proposal package included some movements to address some of our priorities, and we responded with some guardrails around their priorities.”
"For the first time, the employer has made movement on their monetary proposal. In addition to a general wage increase, they offered a one-time flat rate increase but unfortunately, it was not universal to all. Their proposal would also still leave many members making less than the Western Canadian Average. That simply is not good enough.”
CUPE reports that the bargaining committee “decided to respond with a counteroffer to move them towards our local’s key bargaining priorities. We are awaiting confirmation on the next bargaining dates but expect to see further movement from the employer in those meetings.”
CUPE Local 5430 also states it is inviting members to bring questions about bargaining and next steps to a “Telephone Town Hall” meeting on Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. CUPE is also planning to stage a “Day of Action” at the legislature on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
The union states that it plans to bus in members from around the province to the front steps of the legislature, where they plan to “send the Premier, Minister of Health and provincial government a message.”
Speaking at a media availability in Regina on Monday, CUPE Saskatchewan president Kent Peterson confirmed that the two sides are continuing the bargaining process. He told reporters that after more than four years without a pay increase for health-care workers during a “cost-of-living crisis,” people are “really feeling the squeeze.”
Peterson pointed to the 99 per cent vote in favour of job action by the approximately 13,500 CUPE members as the “largest strike vote in the history of Saskatchewan.”
”It's a clear signal and a clear message to the provincial government, the Saskatchewan Health Authority and SAHO, which is the bargaining agent at the table, that they need to get serious and get a deal done,” said Peterson.
He said CUPE Local 5430 leads that process. “They get to decide when they've… maybe reached a tentative agreement or are declaring impasse, etc. There's a number of steps you have to go through, and then bargain an essential services agreement as part of our legislation. And so that's playing itself out. But they are actively still bargaining and have not declared impasse. So that's where things are at at this time.”
He said the health-care workers “remain at the table. And so we hope that we can get a deal at the table there.”
