(WEYBURN) CUPE Local 90 has served written notice to the City of Weyburn and the Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety that the Union and the City have reached an impasse in the current round of negotiations.

The City of Weyburn is seeking serious concessions, including changes to bereavement leave, changes to emergency and serious illness leave, changes to the grievance process, and changes to seniority and promotion rights.

“Our members work hard for the City of Weyburn. We deserve a fair and reasonable deal,” said Sherri Blackburn, President of CUPE Local 90. “The monetary offer they have outlined does not keep up with the costs of living and lags behind the wage increases that CUPE members employed by other municipalities will receive.”

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Approximately 70 postdoctoral fellows and non-student researchers at the University of Regina have unionized with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). After an organizing drive that began early in 2018, the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board issued a certification order for the union on August 7, 2018 following a secret ballot vote that saw the academic workers vote 88 per cent in favour of unionizing.

The postdoctoral fellows and non-student researchers and technicians are seeking to improve their conditions of work on campus over the long term.

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The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is conducting a province-wide review of security services, using an external consultant named Tony Weeks. Weeks has a track record of privatizing security systems in other provinces.

CUPE members are concerned that this review could open the doorway to privatization of health care security here in Saskatchewan.

CUPE 5430 is fighting back.

Watch this video to hear directly from our members about why public security services in health care is important.

• Take action today and sign the petition: https://cupe.ca/say-no-contracting-out-saskatchewans-health-care-security-services

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Every summer road crews are out across Saskatchewan working hard to build and maintain public infrastructure. These workers are often at risk from motorists who do not obey the rules of the road.

The City of Saskatoon has launched a campaign to highlight the risks drivers pose to work crews throughout the city. The Respect Workzone campaign features interviews with three members of CUPE 859, who represent outside workers with the City of Saskatoon.

CUPE 859 is proud to stand behind these members and the City’s campaign.

“Every day CUPE 859 members work hard to provide valuable public services for the people of Saskatoon. We are pleased to play a role in the Respect Workzone campaign as health and safety is an essential part of our everyday work,” said Mike Stefiuk, President of CUPE 859.

“We remind drivers to please slow down and respect the work we do and the Workzones we do it in. One injury in the workplace is one too many and we all play a role in keeping everyone safe.”

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Chronic understaffing and increasing workload are two of the most pressing issues in health care. CUPE 5430 member and Region 1 facility representative Sid Hall has seen the impact of both issues on patient care and health care workers first hand.

Hall is a Continuing Care Aid at River Heights Lodge in Battleford, and a Battlefords Area Representative for the union. He represents both River Heights Lodge and the Battlefords District Care Centre.

Hall consistently observed that staff had challenges meeting the many needs of residents in a timely manner. There just wasn’t enough time or enough people to provide the quality of care residents deserve.

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REGINA: CUPE Local 5430 is concerned that the province wide review of health care security services will open the doorway to privatization of security and other services.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is conducting a province-wide review of security services, using an external consultant named Tony Weeks. Weeks conducted a similar review in Alberta in 2010 and recommended a centralized, mostly-privatized security service, which was implemented in that province.

“We are extremely concerned that the goal of this review is to privatize health care security services,” said Sandra Seitz, president of CUPE Local 5430.

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Legal Aid Saskatchewan provides legal services for the most vulnerable people in the province. The 150 CUPE members in CUPE Local 1949, representing legal aid lawyers and administrative staff, are fighting to preserve the organization from contracting out and threats of privatization.

Learn more and contact the Minister of Justice to express concerns.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Contact Minister of Justice Don Morgan to express concerns that Legal Aid Saskatchewan is being systemically undermined.

Phone: 306.787-5353
Email: jus.minister@gov.sk.ca

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(Prince Albert) Workers from Prince Albert’s Legal Aid Clinic, represented by CUPE Local 1949, met July 11, 2018 to discuss restructuring and privatization at Legal Aid and the impact changes will have on clients.

It was recently announced that Legal Aid would contract out most duty council and lay off six people in the Saskatoon Office. There is concern that more changes are coming which will impact the area offices, including the Prince Albert Office.

“Legal Aid Saskatchewan has been chronically underfunded, and staff have suffered from extreme, escalating workload issues in recent years,” said Deb Hopkins, Vice President of Local 1949. “Many of our clients are among the most marginalized and vulnerable people in society, and our staff are dedicated to serving their needs.”

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(Humboldt) The Horizon School Division is cutting days for ten-month term education support staff for the 2018-2019 school year.

Education assistants, librarians, secretaries, occupational therapists, student counsellors, and outreach workers all lost between 4 and 13 working days. The Division also cut the only two speech pathologist assistant positions.

“With the provincial budget cuts to education and a mandate on wage restraint for public servants, our school division fell short of the commitment they made to their employees to honor the wage negotiated during our last round of bargaining. The reduction in days is a result,” said Marie Moore, President of CUPE Local 4799. “The cut in days will mean less time for education assistants to prepare for students and work with teachers on individualized learning plans for unique student needs. Outreach workers, counsellors, and occupational therapists will have less time to gather resources to put programs and services in place for students before the school year starts.”

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CUPE Local 4784, representing 270 education support staff in Good Spirit School Division, voted to ratify a new three-year contract on Wednesday evening. The agreement includes:

• a signing bonus of a maximum of $360 dollars ($30/month) for members who have worked 75% of the available hours for 2017/2018 (this works out to 1.15% of payroll);
• a 1.5% wage increase for 2018/2019; and
• a 1.75% increase for 2019/2020.

The Union also achieved parity with the GSTA (Good Spirit Teachers Association) LINC agreement for extra-curricular and noon hour supervision.

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