Regina health-care workers picket for better pay and working conditions

CBC
Fri, April 19, 2024 

Thursday’s rally in Regina, organized by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), is the fourth in a series of strikes across Saskatchewan. (Liam Avison/CBC - image credit)


Dozens of health-care workers picketed outside of Regina's Pasqua Hospital on Friday to ask the province to address conditions in Saskatchewan's health-care system.

The rally, organized by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), was the fourth in a series across Saskatchewan, with the other three held in Weyburn, North Battleford and Prince Albert this month.

CUPE 5430 president Bashir Jalloh said the union has been at the bargaining table since September 2023 and is frustrated with the province's pace.


"The process is extremely slow. Our members are getting frustrated. People want meaningful wages," Jalloh said.

Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE healthcare workers, says they’re bargaining with the province on various fronts since September 2023.

CUPE 5430 President Bashir Jalloh says the union has been bargaining with the province on various fronts since September 2023. (Liam Avison/CBC)

Jalloh said workers are looking for a "significant'' pay raise in line with inflation, better working conditions and investments to improve Saskatchewan's retention rate for health-care workers.

As of Friday, healthcareersinsask.ca had 1,473 vacant job postings. Only 401 — less than a third — were full-time permanent positions. Jalloh said the postings are a major concern.

"No one is going to leave Toronto or Calgary to come to Regina for a casual job. They have to post full-time jobs. There are vacancies. It does not make sense."

When asked about worker compensation and the rally, Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health said in an emailed response that this year's budget included $142 million to support the government's Health Human Resources Action Plan to recruit, train and retain health-care workers.

In the last decade, Saskatchewan's consumer price index has gone up by about 25 per cent. In comparison, CUPE says, wages for health-care workers have only increased by 14 per cent.

Cathy Curtis, a sterile processing technician at Pasqua Hospital in Regina, commutes from Vibank, a village about 50 kilometres southeast of the city. She said the mismatch between rising costs and her wages has forced her to live from one paycheque to the next.

"I don't come to this city on my days off, I don't go out to eat. I am literally just bills and groceries."

Curtis said workplace conditions have only exacerbated the plight of health-care workers in the province.

"Nobody's even willing to come in for overtime anymore. People are tired. People are exhausted. You can't just keep beating us to the ground," she said.

Cathy Curtis is a sterile processing technician at the Pasqua Hospital, commutes from Vibank, a village 32 miles out of Regina. She says the mismatch between rising costs and her wages has forced to live from one paycheck to the other.

Cathy Curtis says the mismatch between rising costs and her wages has forced to live from one paycheque to the other. (Liam Avison/CBC)

Maryka Gai, another worker in the sterile processing department at Pasqua Hospital, said her paycheques haven't kept pace with increases in her grocery bills.

"When I got into this profession, I never thought it would come to this, that I'd be marching out here calling out for a rise in wages," she said.

Gai said she doesn't want to leave Saskatchewan, but has thought about it.

"If only our wages could go up, there is no reason for me to leave," she said.

Maryka Gai works with the sterile department at the Pasqua hospital.

Maryka Gai works in sterile processing at Pasqua Hospital. (Liam Avison/CBC)

Opposition NDP rural and remote health critic Jared Clarke was at the rally. He said health-care workers shouldn't have to rally outside of a hospital to be heard.

"It's only fair that the health-care workers get to bargain in good faith with the government, that the government shows them respect and listens to the concerns that they're bringing forward," Clarke said.

The Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations negotiates with unions, including CUPE. It didn't get back to CBC's request for a comment on the bargaining process.

Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health said in an emailed response that it's aware of CUPE's protests. However, the ministry refused to comment on the bargaining process.

"Contract negotiations are currently underway and it would be inappropriate to comment," the ministry said in an emailed response.