President of health-care union says 13,000 ready to walk off job
Members of SEIU-WEST without contract since 2017, and talks broke down in May
Despite being revered and applauded, members of Saskatchewan’s health-care sector are frustrated by the government’s unwillingness to bargain and address their pressing concerns.
Members of the 13,000-strong Service Employees International Union West (SEIU-WEST) are ready to strike according to the union president and several workers.
On Tuesday members of the union stood on the steps of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building in unison with locked-out members of Unifor 594, unionized employees of the Co-op Refinery Complex.
SEIU-WEST consists of members working in long-term care, medical labs and other parts of the health-care sector, including licensed practical nurses. They have been without a collective agreement since 2017, and in late May negotiations between SEIU-WEST and Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) broke down and no further bargaining has taken place since.
Speaking on Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe said part of the reason the province has been so good at dealing with the pandemic is the ability to test and turn around results in short order.
“It’s important for us to continue to ensure that capacity is available and quite likely grow it as we open our economy, open our communities and open our health-care system,” said Moe.
Carla Saworski, a medical laboratory technician at St. Paul’s Hospital, said that testing is contingent on people like her. In her 35 years working in the field, demand for daily tests has almost doubled but the number of workers has not kept up. During the pandemic, the labs have taken on even more testing.
“Over the last three months, we’ve turned out over 50,000 COVID-19 tests,” said Saworski. “Testing is the only way to get out of this.”
The tests are turned around in 24 to 48 hours, making for late and stressful nights for workers in labs across Saskatchewan.
“Without the staff we can’t keep up those turnaround times.”
The union wants staffing concerns to be addressed in the workplaces of all of its members, saying personnel shortages are affecting their work and the health of the province.
“You can’t say I’m essential and then treat me like I’m not,” said Saworkski. As a member of the bargaining committee, Saworski said what she’s heard from the membership is that, “Everybody’s ready to go.”
When the union raised its concerns earlier this month in a letter to the premier, his office issued a statement to The Canadian Press indicating bargaining representatives are willing to return to the table, and it would be inappropriate for ministers to get involved.
Barbara Cape, president of SEIU-WEST, said she gets hundreds of emails every day from frontline health-care workers asking, “‘When are we going on strike?’ And this government needs to understand that a wave is going to rush over them,” she added.
Job action in the health-care sector is a difficult process. The Saskatchewan Employment Act and the Essential Services Act mandates the union serve a notice of impasse, then a mandatory mediation period would take place, an essential service agreement would have to be struck with SAHO, and then SEIU-WEST members could strike.
By Cape’s estimation that would take six months.
“I’ll tell you, SEIU workers from north to south from east to west are saying, ‘Let us at it,’” continued Cape.
Among them is Lou Ellen Murray, a home-care scheduler from Maple Creek. She said the majority of the workers she represents are staunch Sask. Party voters, but the 1,000 days without a contract has disillusioned many of them. “They are pissed,” said Murray. Many of the home-care workers have opted to take second jobs and she herself has thought about quitting due to the stress and overwork of her post.
“I see girls crying daily,” she said. “It used to be a wonderful job.”