Union representatives from CUPE 5430 gathered at Yorkton Regional Health Centre on Tuesday to raise awareness about the impact the rising cost of living is having on health-care workers.
“We want to negotiate higher wages so that our members can stay in the province,” CUPE 5430 president Basil Djalo told CTV News.
The union represents more than 13,600 health care workers across the state in classifications including administrative, technical, nursing, support and plant operations.
They are currently in contract negotiations with the Saskatchewan government, seeking a wage increase to address the impact of rising costs of living on their workforce and the challenges of recruiting and retaining local health-care workers.
“If we want people to pursue a career in health care, if we want people to recruit and stay here, we need to do something about their compensation,” Jarrow said.
“Otherwise, they'll leave the state because most of the jobs in other states are paying more.”
Jarrow added that increasing workers' wages will encourage them to stay in Saskatchewan and help resolve staffing shortage issues that provincial hospitals continue to face.
“The way it is, our guys leave school, they use the system to come here to get experience, then they leave and that's not fair,” he explained. “We want to keep our guys here.”
The Ministry of Health issued a statement to CTV News saying, “The provincial government remains committed to building and supporting a sustainable and responsive health-care system, now and into the future. The Ministry of Health's key priority, working with partners and service providers, is to deliver the highest quality health care to patients in Saskatchewan.”
Additionally, the state highlighted that it will invest $142 million in the 2024-25 state budget to support its Healthcare Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan, which focuses on recruiting, training and retaining health care workers.
“The Saskatchewan Government is aware of the issues raised by CUPE, however, contract negotiations are currently ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment on the negotiating process,” it added.
CUPE 5430 sat down at the negotiating table with the Saskatchewan government between June 4 and 6, but Jarrow said the time was spent preparing for the talks, not negotiating.
“We are currently at the negotiating table but the delays are extremely frustrating,” Jarrow explained.
“Right now, there are two problems at the negotiating table. One is the employers' convenience. They can't afford to negotiate, we can only meet with them once every two months. And when we meet with them, they're using that time to prepare for negotiations. [instead]. “
