The SAHO Bargaining Committee met with the SEIU-West Bargaining Committee December 2 & 3, 2024 in Saskatoon.

During this session, agreement was reached on a few articles as well as the renewal of some Letters of Understanding. Steady progress was made in the identification of common transition issues that SEIU-West agreed would need to be negotiated in conjunction with the other two provider union partners. It is recognized that transition and other common issue negotiations must be discussed with all three provider union partners at a common table. SAHO’s proposals are constructed to ensure that employees have options to exercise their seniority provincially while maintaining benefits and accruals. There is a desire to provide employees the ability to maximize hours when working in more than one union jurisdiction, and to create meaningful employment. 

SAHO remains committed to a fair and transparent bargaining process. It is our intent that all employees in the 300 plus common classifications covered by three (3) collective agreements with the provider unions maintain internal equity for monetary and non-wage monetary terms and conditions and benefit equally in the opportunities of a new single employer. The SAHO proposal package seeks to maintain the integrity of the three provider unions while finding common solutions to common issues. The transition to a single employer impacts all employees regardless of union jurisdiction and should be negotiated jointly and collaboratively as is done for the joint job evaluation program, the market supplement program or monetary compensation, as examples. The pace of these negotiations would be greatly assisted by having these discussions with all three provider union partners in the same forum.

The next scheduled meetings are January 21, 22 and 23, 2025 in Saskatoon. 

SAHO would like to respond to the statements that SEIU-West wanted to start negotiations in January 2023, but was delayed by SAHO. In fact, SEIU-West served notice to bargain on January 25, 2023, and the union was still engaged in finalizing their proposal package in February 2023. The parties had meetings regarding the process for bargaining in May and August of 2023. SEIU-West has indicated in their own communications that they were unable to meet over the summer of 2023 due to scheduling conflicts. SAHO and SEIU-West mutually agreed to exchange initial proposals at a meeting on October 17, 2023. It should also be noted that SAHO’s negotiating team remains committed to the bargaining process, including arriving on time and consistently coming to bargaining prepared for productive discussions, and has not left earlier than scheduled. 

Union/SEIU-West January 03, 2025