Members of CUPE 5430 walk along the sideway near Prince Albert's Victoria Hospital. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Labour unrest

‘We are barely hanging on by a thread’: Sask. health care union holds rally in Prince Albert

Mar 12, 2024 | 3:51 PM

Carrying signs that called on the employer to boost wages and amplifying their call for help with the use of a megaphone, members of a Saskatchewan health care union made some noise on Tuesday outside Prince Albert’s Victoria Hospital.

The event, described as an information picket, marked the first in a series of stops across the province for CUPE 5430. Union President Bashir Jalloh, who also works as a nuclear medicine technologist at Regina’s Pasqua hospital explained that over the past 10 years, the cost of living has increased by 27 per cent, but their wages have only increased by about 14 per cent.

“We are barely hanging on by a thread,” he said.

The union, which represents over 13,000 health service providers and includes clerical and technical staff, nursing, and maintenance staff, has been without a contact since April 1, 2023. And while bargaining continues, Jalloh noted the employer is proposing a package that is full of concessions and does nothing to enhance wages or working conditions.

A recent survey submitted to all CUPE members, attempted to gauge how they were coping with the cost of living. Nineteen per cent of respondents said their financial situation was good, while 56 per cent described their situation as poor and 24 per cent said it was extremely bad.

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“It was startling how our members are surviving,” Jalloh commented.

Citing cases where members are donating plasma to make some extra money, or working excessive amounts of overtime, Jalloh also stated some members are forced to work multiple jobs to survive.

Another issue for the union is recruitment and retention. Noting cases where members are leaving the province or going to some other field off work, Jalloh said the provincial government is focusing all its attention on bringing in workers from outside the country and doing nothing to invest in the people that continued working through COVID.

“It’s like opening the tap and then not putting anything in the bathtub [to stop the water]. Everything is going through the door,” he said.

While acknowledging the recent public attention given to the province’s teacher, Jalloh who noted they have their own issues, said he did not think the STF’s job action would have a negative impact on their own bargaining. And he added any attention to any form of labour movement is a good thing.

“Because we are all in this together,” he said.

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Pascale Giroux works as a continuing care aid in Spiritwood and has two young sons. Her husband also works full time as the manager at the local CO-OP grocery store. Noting how 15 to 20 years ago, a family in their situation would have been living quite comfortably, she said times have changed.

“We can barely scrape by going pay cheque to pay cheque. We are still living but that’s about it,” she said, adding over the past 15 years, her raises have amounted to just over $6.

Meanwhile Naomi Braaten works as a pharmacy technician and has been working at Victoria Hospital for nearly 18 years. She and her husband have three kids and face challenges related to daycare and sports. And all while trying to save for post-secondary education.

“You really decide what it is that you want to buy when you go to the grocery store,” she said.

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

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