Local MLAs taking laundry job worries to the top

Workers upset with management at North Sask Laundry will have their concerns taken to the top by local MLAs.

The Prince Albert business does hospital linen for four health regions, but at least 75 employees will be laid off once a privatization deal goes through.

That’s expected sometime between the summer and fall of 2015, as 3sHealth contracts out all health care laundry in the province to K-Bro Linen Systems.

However, staff staging two pickets last week said transitional promises made by management – such as severance and job retraining – have been at a standstill since last year.

This action came as a surprise to Prince Albert-Carlton MLA Darryl Hickie because he thought negotiations moved forward after a Sept. 2013 meeting with North Sask staff and the CEO of 3sHealth.

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“We thought there was already a bit of a resolution already come to terms,” Hickie explained.

Last week he reached out to Anita Labossiere, the president of CUPE Local 3736, to have what she called a “frank” conversation on what’s happened since then.

On Saturday, Hickie and Prince Albert-Northcote MLA Victoria Jurgens caught up with Labossiere, CUPE Local 3736 vice president Lanna Acorn, and union representative Mira Lewis.

They came away with a plan to speak to the Minister of Health, Dustin Duncan, about what can be done, Hickie said.

“I was hoping that what had happened after 2013, it would have progressed along that kind of track, and apparently it has not. So we’re going to have to get some answers from officials.”

Although the union representatives have voiced their issues with the privatization of their jobs, Hickie said they’re moving on with the situation at hand.

“Everyone knows it’s going to be privatized, and they were worried about when would it actually be done. So we’re going to try to get them an actual firm date when the North Sask Laundry facility is going to be closed.”

Hickie said, through his understanding, transitional dollars are already being provided through union negotiations with other laundry service providers – Regina Qu’Appelle, Sun Country, Sunrise, and Saskatoon health regions.

He’d expected by now North Sask would do the same, that “while the laundry is still working, operational, these people who wanted to upgrade their education, look for another job but it requires some education upgrades, they were going to be allowed to do that.. That’s the sticky point that I want to figure out why it hasn’t happened for Prince Albert.”

He cited his own experience with the Prince Albert Police Association when speaking about North Sask Laundry.

“In a respectful workplace, I think really it’s only fair that if there’s an end date that can be predicted and it’s going to be known by the management team, it should, in my opinion, based on my previous experience … those are the kinds of things people should have knowledge of.”

While Labossiere said she appreciated the support of the MLAs, she’s “cautiously optimistic” progress will be made.

This is because staff has been getting the “runaround” from North Sask, who said they’d look into mitigation funds offered through 3sHealth at first but never provided answers, she said.

“It was delay after delay after delay…we’re not taking anything to heart until we have something in writing, and we made that very, very clear.”

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk