After years of cuts and privatization, today’s provincial budget fails to provide the necessary investment needed to fix the crisis facing Saskatchewan’s public services and misses the chance to provide working people with much-needed affordability measures to ease the rising cost of living.

“Saskatchewan’s public services have been starved for years by the Sask. Party government,” said Judy Henley, President of CUPE Saskatchewan. “Today’s budget is nowhere close to what is needed to fix the crisis our public services are facing due to years of cuts, underfunding, and privatization.”

Henley questioned exactly what the government’s plans for increased health spending would be focussed on.

“Any funding increases in healthcare need to be invested directly into the public system, and not put towards costly privatization schemes that do nothing to fix the crisis the system is facing.”

Key investments in public services that CUPE has advocated for were notably absent from today’s budget, including multi-year funding for community-based organizations (CBOs) and annual funding increases for regulated child care centres.

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March 22 is World Water Day – a day to highlight the vital importance of water for human life and ecological health and, as such, the need to protect water resources from pollution, privatization, and commercialization. The United Nations General Assembly recognized water and sanitation as fundamental human rights in 2010. These human rights to safe, reliable water and wastewater are being denied to many Indigenous communities in Canada. Water services and resources are also under growing pressure to privatize.

CUPE’s Water is life campaign raises awareness about the ongoing struggles of Indigenous peoples, and shows how CUPE members can listen, learn and act. Colonization continues to have devastating effects on Indigenous communities. Access to water and sanitation are human rights according to international law, yet many Indigenous communities in Canada have water that’s unsafe to drink or wash with. Some communities have lived with unsafe water for decades. Other First Nations don’t have any functioning water system at all.

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As we commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the 2023 theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21 focuses on the urgency of combatting racism and racial discrimination.

From the intensified inequalities experienced by Indigenous, Black and racialized workers and communities during the ongoing pandemic and now the growing affordability crisis, to the ongoing activism denouncing the crisis of police brutality and over-policing, much more remains to be done in our society to end injustice. We must speak up and take action!

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Documents compiled by CUPE show that the provincial government is contracting out work to private “staffing solution” companies in health care – including more than $730,000 for Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) in just one region of the province.

“This is the completely wrong approach to dealing with the staffing crisis in healthcare,” said Bashir Jalloh, President of CUPE 5430. “This issue is a mess of the government’s own making, and it’s only one example of the contracting out of healthcare workers that is becoming more widespread across the province. The hiring of private contractors is not only costly, it’s a temporary band aid solution that will do nothing to solve the issues that are causing a shortage of healthcare workers in Saskatchewan.”

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CUPE has released a report revealing increased incidents of violence faced by public library workers in Saskatchewan while on the job.

The report, “Turning the Page,” is based on a survey of CUPE library workers conducted last year in response to reports of a growing number of violent incidents occurring in Saskatchewan public libraries. Results of the survey show a majority of respondents reporting having experienced or witnessed violence in their workplace. Of those who responded to the survey:

• 78% reported having experienced verbal abuse.
• 71% reported witnessing violence.
• 50% reported experiencing violence.
• 44% reported experiencing sexual harassment.
• 40% reported being threatened with physical harm.

“This report makes it clear that public library workers across the province are facing unacceptable incidents of harassment, abuse, and violence in their workplaces,” said Judy Henley, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “Libraries are essential community hubs that so many rely on as places to gather and access programming in addition to borrowing books and other materials. More needs to be done to make sure our libraries are welcoming and safe places for both workers and the public.”

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Laura Walton, the President of the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) who successfully led 55,000 education workers in Ontario to victory over Doug Ford’s Conservative government, shared her inspiring story with convention delegates on Thursday.

“When you’re under attack- what do you do? Walton asked delegates. “You rise up, and you fight back.”

Walton shared the story of the work her union did to build power and mobilize for a successful strike vote, which saw record turnout and led to a 96.5% vote in favour of a strike. Workers came together to have conversations with other workers, making over 50,000 calls to members.

“We started with member-to-member conversations, and that’s how we built power,” Walton said. “We trained over 1,000 workers on how to have conversations. “When you’re organizing, listening is key.”

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The CUPE Saskatchewan convention featured a panel discussion on recognizing and addressing the structural barriers that many Indigenous, racialized and 2SLGBTQI+ members in our union face, and to ensure our union is reflective of our members experiences.

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Through collective action, media and political pressure, and the use of digital campaign tools, CUPE members have successfully saved a Preeceville group home from closure and prevented the loss of at least eight jobs in the community.

“Just a few days ago, our group home was facing closure and the CUPE members who worked there were preparing to be laid off,” said Angie Pawliw, president of CUPE Local 3364. “Thanks to the support of our community and the solidarity of CUPE members from across the province, we’ve been notified by the employer of the great news that the home will remain open.”

Group Home Number Three in Preeceville is home to residents with disabilities who are supported by staff who provide 24-hour care. Mackenzie Society Ventures, the company who operates the home, had recently announced plans to close the home permanently at the end of March without explanation, despite the fact that the home is fully funded by the provincial government.

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With CUPE Saskatchewan’s 2023 Convention underway, delegates elected J.R. Simpson as vice-president and Erin Auchstaetter recording secretary during elections held on Thursday, March 9, 2023.

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The road ahead is challenging, but CUPE is in a strong position to build worker power and back members for the fights to come, according to National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick, who addressed convention Thursday morning.

Rennick noted that agreements covering about one in six CUPE members in Saskatchewan are open, and many others are either at the bargaining table or heading there soon. This is a critical moment for members across the province to make progress.

“To survive and thrive, we must win real wage increases for CUPE members,” said Rennick. “Raising the floor for all workers, but especially for the lowest paid, is the only way to end labour shortages in healthcare, child care, social services and other sectors suffering a retention crisis.”

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