Tom Graham, President (left); M. Goll, Award Recipient (centre); Judy Henley, Secretary-Treasurer (right)

Since first becoming a CUPE member in 1981 when she began working in health care at the Meadow Lake hospital, Marilyn Goll has been active on her local union’s executive and dedicated to helping fellow members.

Goll recalls her first case as a union executive member involved appealing the denial of disability benefits on behalf of a member, and the early successful appeal and satisfaction of restoring benefits for a member and their family has motivated Goll throughout her career to be actively involved in CUPE. For Goll, the joy of helping others you work alongside and looking out for their well-being is what makes a union a strong family. Continue reading →

Members of CUPE Local 4689 and the employer, South East Cornerstone Public School Division, have ratified a new two-year collective agreement. Negotiations took place in the context of the provincial government’s mandated 3.5% wage rollback and employer proposals of zero-percent wage increases.

The two-year agreement includes a lump sum payment of 1% for 2016 and a wage increase of 1% for 2017. Further gains in the agreement include an additional day for family illness, increased use of personal days, and new language addressing violence in the work place as well as expanded occupational health and safety language and better layoff provisions. Total monetary increases are estimated to be +3.32% over two years. Continue reading →

The Executive Board and Members of former CUPE Local 5111, representing health care workers in the Prairie North Health Region located in the northwest part of central Saskatchewan, were awarded the Woodrow Stanley Lloyd Award for Collective Action on March 8, 2018 during CUPE Saskatchewan’s Convention 2018.

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Tom Graham was re-elected as President of CUPE Saskatchewan at Convention 2018 held on March 7 to 9, 2018 in Saskatoon.

Graham has served in the position of President of CUPE Saskatchewan Division since 1998. Previous to serving as chief spokesperson and representative of CUPE Saskatchewan, Graham was President of CUPE Local 859 (Saskatoon Municipal Workers) from 1996 – 2004. Continue reading →

Judy Henley was re-elected as Secretary-Treasurer of CUPE Saskatchewan at Convention 2018 held on March 7 to 9, 2018 in Saskatoon.

Henley has served in the position of Secretary-Treasurer of CUPE Saskatchewan Division since 2001.

In addition to her role as Treasurer, Judy Henley also serves as a CUPE SFL Vice-President, and as a CUPE National General Vice President since June 2017. Continue reading →

Welcome to Convention 2018!

Delegates representing CUPE local unions from across the province will gather in Saskatoon at the Radisson Hotel (405 20^th Street East) on March 7 – 9, 2018 for the Annual Convention of CUPE Saskatchewan.

During convention, delegates will set the direction for the year ahead, elect members to leadership positions, hear reports about the important work being done by our union, and engage in discussions about issues facing CUPE members and the public services we provide.

CUPE is Saskatchewan’s largest public sector union representing over 30,000 members across the province working in a variety of public service occupations including: Healthcare, K-12 education, universities, civic services in cities and towns, community based organizations and child care centres, and various boards and agencies.

View and download: Convention Program 2018

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The results of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health’s first Resident and Family Experience Survey and CEO tour indicate widespread concern with inadequate staffing in long-term care. In all but one of the twelve former health regions, staffing levels and/or staff recruitment and retention were raised as issues during the CEO tour.

“This certainly confirms what our many members who work in long-term care have been saying for years,” says Pearl Blommaert, Vice-President of CUPE Local 5430, which represents 14,000 health care workers in Saskatchewan.

In the fall of 2015, CUPE surveyed more than 400 long-term care workers. Short-staffing and workload were top issues. Front-line workers reported not being able to provide proper personal care to all residents because they did not have enough time.

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Town of Grenfell employees, who unionized in late spring 2017, ratified their first collective agreement in December 2017. All outside workers and one office worker are now members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents municipal workers in thirty-eight (38) communities in Saskatchewan.

“The Town employees had become concerned about their working conditions, their compensation, and how they were being treated by town council and the administration. They wanted the support of a union to address these issues and we are glad to welcome new local 5340”, says Alex Lenko, National Representative of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

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TOM GRAHAM, President, CUPE Saskatchewan

Tom Graham, President of CUPE Saskatchewan, made the following statement on the leadership election of Scott Moe:

“On behalf of over 30,000 CUPE members in Saskatchewan, I offer congratulations to Premier-designate Scott Moe on his successful candidacy to be the new leader of the governing Saskatchewan Party over the weekend and becoming the next Premier.

As members of Saskatchewan’s Community Union delivering public services across the province, CUPE Saskatchewan looks forward to the opportunity to work with the new premier on the issues and concerns of our members and to establish productive dialogue.

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Rendering of P3 project Sask Hospital North Battleford, SK; Source: Government of Saskatchewan

REGINA – The Saskatchewan government needs to tell the public whether the construction and full contract obligations of the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford are in jeopardy after news of the collapse of UK-based Carillion, whose Canadian branch Carillion Canada Inc. is a half partner in the consortium awarded the public-private partnership (P3) contract to construct and maintain the new Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford. Following the yet-to-be completed construction, Carillion was to be responsible for building maintenance and lifecycle obligations under the thirty-year P3 privatization contract.

“Entering into P3 privatization arrangements are always a risk despite the sales pitch,” said Tom Graham, President of CUPE Saskatchewan. “P3s are more costly than traditional public procurement. If the private sector company goes bankrupt, it’s the public sector that ends up picking up the expensive pieces. We need to know what will happen with Carillion’s project in North Battleford and what it’s going to cost us,” added Graham.

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