REGINA — After more than three years without a new collective agreement, thousands of Saskatchewan health care workers say patience is running out as growing staffing shortages, rising living costs and mounting workplace pressures push them toward a provincewide strike vote this September.
For nearly every Saskatchewan resident, health care is something they depend on during life's most critical moments. But the frontline workers who keep that system running say the pressures behind the scenes have reached a point where the status quo can no longer continue.
CUPE Local 5430, Saskatchewan's largest health care union representing more than 14,000 frontline workers, has announced it will hold a strike vote in September after what it describes as years of stalled bargaining, falling wages and worsening staffing shortages. Members work in hospitals, long-term care homes, laboratories, community health centres and medical facilities across the province.
Union leaders stress that the decision is not about walking away from patients. They say it is about fighting for a health care system capable of attracting and keeping the skilled professionals Saskatchewan families depend on every day.
"Our members don't want conflict," said CUPE 5430 President Bashir Jalloh. "They want a health care system that attracts and keeps skilled professionals so Saskatchewan families can count on timely, quality care when they need it most."
For Jalloh, the upcoming strike vote is the result of years of frustration rather than a sudden turning point.
"We have been bargaining our collective agreement since 2023," he said. "We have done multiple rounds of bargaining with the employers' bargaining agent, SAHO, and what we have come to realize is that they are doing everything to slow our process and frustrate us so we can take all the concessions."
Despite those frustrations, he said health care workers have continued reporting for every shift because they understand what is at stake.
"We know that we are essential workers in this province," Jalloh said. "We know the implications if we don't do the job that we do."
At the same time, he said the pressures on workers continue to mount.
"Our members have been going through a cost-of-living crisis. The work environment is not good. People continue to work short every day."
According to the union, Saskatchewan's health care workforce has now gone more than four years without a wage increase while employees continue working under an expired collective agreement dating back to 2023.
CUPE argues that wages have fallen well behind neighbouring provinces, making Saskatchewan increasingly difficult to recruit into and even harder to remain in.
"The government itself, in the past, used the Western Canada average to pay health care workers," Jalloh explained. "But if you look at our wages right now, they are way below the Western Canada average."
He believes the consequences are visible throughout the health care system.
"People are finishing school with significant student loan debt," he said. "They come here, use Saskatchewan as a stepping stone to get experience, and then they leave."
The union says those departures create vacancies that ripple throughout hospitals and care facilities.
"When health care workers leave because they cannot afford to stay, everyone feels the impact," Jalloh said. "Patients wait longer for care. Families experience delays. Remaining staff become exhausted. This isn't just a workers' issue. It's a public issue."
The shortages, he said, have dramatically changed daily working conditions.
"This is summer vacation. People have been denied summer vacation. People who have worked 20 or 30 years have been denied vacations," he said. "People are on constant callback. You finish work, you go home, then they're calling you back to work."
Others are required to stay beyond the end of scheduled shifts because there is simply nobody available to replace them.
"There is no work-life balance," Jalloh said. "The only way we're going to address that is if we pay health care workers fair wages so they can stay in Saskatchewan."
The union also points to recruitment as a growing financial issue.
Rather than increasing wages for permanent employees, Jalloh argues the province is increasingly relying on expensive contract workers.
"Their approach is actually costing taxpayers more money," he said.
He cited examples of diagnostic imaging professionals earning roughly $8,000 to $9,000 per month as permanent employees while contract workers performing similar work can cost between $18,000 and $21,000 monthly.
"If you pay people who live and work here fair wages, they stay in Saskatchewan," he said. "They spend that money in Saskatchewan. They raise their families here."
The union believes improving wages would strengthen both recruitment and retention while ultimately reducing long-term staffing costs.
CUPE 5430 has also raised concerns about proposals involving the movement of employees between facilities and continues to oppose further privatization of health care services, arguing stable public staffing remains essential to long-term patient care.
Throughout negotiations, Jalloh insists the union has continued bringing forward solutions rather than simply identifying problems.
"We have provided solutions to the employer," he said. "We have provided short-, medium- and long-term solutions to recruitment and retention."
He says meaningful consultation with frontline workers is essential if Saskatchewan hopes to solve its staffing crisis.
"If we want to be successful about health care, we need to sit down, have dialogue, know what the issues are, and then we can have sustainable health care."
Despite announcing a strike vote, Jalloh repeatedly emphasized that job action remains something health care workers hope to avoid.
"This is not a decision that we take lightly," he said. "We have been extremely patient at the bargaining table."
He said workers continue showing up every day because they care deeply about the people they serve.
"Our members show up every day because they care deeply about the people of Saskatchewan," Jalloh said. "They stay late. They pick up extra shifts. They do everything they can to ensure patients receive the care they deserve. But dedication alone cannot keep a health care system running."
If bargaining does not produce a breakthrough, CUPE 5430 members will hold a democratic strike vote in September. Any future job action would still require Saskatchewan's legislated essential services process before it could proceed.
Until then, Jalloh says the union remains committed to negotiations, but believes the province must begin listening to the workers keeping Saskatchewan's health care system operating every day.
"We believe in this health care system," he said. "We have family members in these communities. We live here too. But after years of patience, we have realized there is no commitment on the part of this government. That is why we have to do what is right not only for our members, but to fight for health care in this province."
