Tom Graham, President, CUPE Saskatchewan

REGINA – CUPE Saskatchewan is calling for the full and timely implementation of the eleven recommendations made by the Workers’ Compensation Act Committee of Review in their final report released today. A Committee of Review, comprised of equal employer and employee representatives, is struck every four years to conduct a review of Saskatchewan’s workers’ compensation system by legislative requirement. The recommendations have the unanimous support of committee members.

“The recommendations of the committee make a lot of common sense to improve the workers’ compensation system for injured workers in our province, and they should be implemented without delay,” said Tom Graham, President of CUPE Saskatchewan. “Injured workers are, in fact, still waiting for some recommendations to be implemented from past reports made in 2011 and earlier. This delay should not be the case moving forward including those recommendations requiring amendments to legislation for implementation.”

Among the eleven overarching recommendations made in the final report of the Committee of Review includes the need for a significant change to customer service and culture of the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) to better serve injured workers, the addition of part-time members to the Board, a 30-day benchmark to address a backlog of board-level claim appeals, and improved coordination of benefits to ensure no worker is disadvantaged in a work-related motor-vehicle accident.

“We are encouraged to see the government already move forward on the aspects of one recommendation calling for an enhancement to policy and amendments to legislation addressing psychological injury coverage,” said Graham. The recommendation also notes the need to have caseworkers dedicated to psychological injury claims, which remains unaddressed. “We hope to see the same level of commitment to implement the full aspects of the remaining recommendations in a timely manner.”

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PRINCE ALBERT: Workers laid off from Saskatchewan’s public laundry facilities last fall are concerned that laundry services now provided by the private company K-Bro Linen are inadequate.

Monday’s Leader-Post article, “Sharps and debris found in hospital laundry lead to staff safety concerns” confirmed these workers’ fears about the quality of laundry services being provided to hospitals and nursing homes under the privatized model.

These public employees, laid off when Edmonton-based company K-Bro Linen was granted a province-wide monopoly on health care laundry services, say they were disappointed but not surprised to hear that processed laundry has been returned with sharps and other debris in it.

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Tom Graham, President, CUPE Saskatchewan

CUPE Saskatchewan President, Tom Graham, responds to recent comments made by Saskatoon mayoral candidate Kelley Moore.

Message from the President

With the Saskatoon civic election just around the corner, it is concerning that mayoral candidate Kelley Moore has stated she plans to address a budget shortfall by delivering a tax break to business and won’t rule out job cuts to city staff.

Unaffordable tax breaks at times of needed investment and cutting jobs and therefore services for citizens are the same tired errors of the past, and create a worsening financial position over the long term.

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Elections for municipal officials and school board trustees are taking place in communities across Saskatchewan on Wednesday, October 26, 2016.

Your vote on October 26 can decide the future of your community.

The decisions, policies and budgets made by local elected officials affect our everyday quality of life and determine access to public services. As CUPE members, it’s important that candidates support the work we do to deliver public services that strengthen our communities and enrich people’s lives.

Click here to find out when and how to vote.

Click here for profiles of progressive candidates running for election.

Click here for the local union boards poster.
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CUPE National is conducting a Leadership Survey. The 2016 CUPE National Leadership Survey seeks to understand the challenges local unions experience in engaging members in union activities.

All elected CUPE local leaders are invited to participate in the survey. For the purposes of the survey, elected CUPE local leadership includes the following: President, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Chief Steward, Unit Chair, and/or other elected positions on the local union executive.

This is an online survey which will expire Sunday November 6, 2016. It should take approximately 45 minutes to complete.

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Open to all CUPE members and free to attend, the CUPE Saskatchewan Young Workers’ Committee is hosting a Pub n’ Learn on Thursday, November 17, 2016 in Regina beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Copper Kettle Restaurant. The topic of the night will be: Keeping young workers safe and building a new generation of safety activists.

Join the Pub n’ Learn discussion with free appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages provided.

• Click here to view and download the event poster
• Share the Facebook event: www.facebook.com/events/678157495682233/

To RSVP your attendance and more information, contact the CUPE Saskatchewan office: 306-757-1009 or cupesask@sasktel.net

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Visit: www.wheresthefunding.ca

REGINA: CUPE has launched a province-wide campaign to raise awareness of the funding challenges in K-12 education.

The campaign is called “Where’s the funding?” and features billboards, a website, and a postcard campaign.

• Click here to visit the campaign website: www.wheresthefunding.ca

“Investing in our children is investing in the future of Saskatchewan. But the current trends in education funding paint a troubling picture of our government’s priorities,” said Jackie Christianson, chairperson of CUPE Saskatchewan’s Education Workers’ Steering Committee. “Most school divisions are experiencing budget shortfalls, and it is our children who are feeling the impact.”

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The government of Saskatchewan announced a three person advisory panel to develop recommendations for the reorganization of health care with a mandate to “recommend a structure with fewer regional health authorities to achieve administrative efficiencies as well as improvements to frontline service delivery.” The final report is due on October 31, 2016.

The CUPE Health Care Council has submitted a formal submission to the panel including a list of recommendations. You can read the full submission here: CUPE submission to the Advisory Panel reviewing Regional Health Authorities in Saskatchewan.

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REGINA: CUPE’s Health Care Council has expressed grave concerns about the process around health care reorganization, citing both lack of public consultation and the extremely short timeline.

“Health care restructuring is a major undertaking that will disrupt the established systems and relationships for providing health care in Saskatchewan,” said Gordon Campbell, President of the CUPE Health Care Council. “The prescribed consultation process is woefully inadequate.”

The government of Saskatchewan recently announced a three person advisory panel to develop recommendations for reorganizing health care. The advisory panel will hold limited meetings with stakeholders and no public meetings whatsoever. All public comments are due by September 26, 2016, and the final report is due on October 31, 2016.
“We believe that the process must consider quality of care and protecting our public health care system,” said Campbell. “This undertaking should not be done hastily nor without careful consideration and comprehensive consultations.”

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