Bargaining 2008-2011
June 11, 2011
Questions and Answers June 11
June 9, 2011
Health Sciences Counter Proposal Presented to SAHO June 9
June 8, 2011
Response to SAHO June 8 Offer
June 8, 2011
SAHO 'Final Offer' Presented Wednesday June 8
February 22, 2011 RESULTS OF STRIKE VOTE
Thank you for giving your Negotiating Committee an 88% Strike Mandate.
Your Negotiating Committee is scheduled to meet with SAHO in Regina on February 23 and 24, 2011.
Continue to follow us on the HSAS website (www.hsa-sk.com) and on our Facebook page.
Thank you for your continued support.
HSAS Negotiating Committee1
January 6, 2011
Dear Health Sciences Members:
As the President's News Release on our website confirms, contract bargaining resumed today at our request.
When we adjourned contract negotiations in November, health care employers were refusing to provide you and the public with current information on staffing levels, and the impact these staffing levels were having on service to patients.
We called for today's resumption of bargaining, because our members have now provided much of the information that health care employers were attempting to hide.
From December 1 through December 10, we conducted an online survey of a random sample of Health Sciences members. We used two independent market research firms – Points West Consulting of Regina and Interactive Tracking Systems of Saskatoon – to help plan, conduct and report on this survey.
The detailed survey results are below for your review.
We want to thank the 773 members from across the province who took the time to respond to this important survey. The results confirm why health care employers were so determined to keep current staffing information from our union and the public – they have been balancing their budgets through inadequate staffing levels, which have resulted in inadequate service levels for patients.
We are using the information you supplied to force health care employers to focus on the real issues of staffing and service levels, and how recruitment and retention of specialized health care professionals is the key to improving staffing.
Our last contract expired March 31, 2009 – twenty-one months ago! We share your frustration with how long these contract negotiations have taken, but health care employers have refused to engage in meaningful negotiations. They have yet to provide a monetary offer and have spent much of the past twenty plus months trying to force us to consider a series of contract concessions.
The detailed staffing and service information provided by you, our members, can change all that. Please take a few minutes to review the President's statement and the survey results and thank you all for your encouragement and support throughout these difficult months.
Yours sincerely,
Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan Bargaining Committee
Statement from Negotiating Team - October 7, 2010
Press Release - October 8, 2010
- Over-Capacity Document
Statement by Acting President Dickson- Sept. 27, 2010
Alberta Comparison Chart - Sept. 27/10
Nurse Comparison Chart- Sept. 27/10
News Release - Sept. 27, 2010
Message from the Chair of the Bargaining Committee - May 20/10
News Release - July 7, 2009
HSAS Files Two (2) Unfair Labour Practices Against SAHO
June 23, 2009
Media Release - June 23, 2009
The following news release was issued on June 23, 2009 at 11:00 am.
Media Release - June 9, 2009
The following news release was issued on June 9, 2009 at 11:00 am.
June 2009 - Provincial Negotiating Crisis
As you are most likely aware, the start of negotiations has been a difficult period and the negotiating committee is trying to find a resolution to these issues in order to conduct negotiations in a meaningful way. The letter sent to you in late April explained the obstacles being presented by SAHO and the health regions. SAHO refuses to remove language that would allow them to add new proposals and language to the contract at any time during the negotiations. HSAS gave SAHO a complete package and expects the same from SAHO. In light of the new essential service legislation restricting the right to any meaningful job action we cannot move forward with this clause still present in SAHO’s proposals.
We provided them with written language to attempt to resolve the issue. In face-to-face meetings the SAHO representatives agreed in principle but are unwilling to sign an agreement on the clause and stated that we should “take their word on it”.
HSAS has also objected to SAHO’s refusal to deal with monetary issues until they make offer at the conclusion of Collective Bargaining.
The committee met face-to-face with SAHO on the 20th of May to once again attempt to resolve these issues. HSAS recommended a mediator to bring about a satisfactory conclusion to the issue and set a frame work to force SAHO to conduct meaningful negotiations.
SAHO agreed to the appointment of a Conciliator from the Department of Labour and our hope is that these issues can be resolved during the scheduled negotiations in mid-June.
On the Essential Services front, HSAS was forced to take the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region to court in order to comply with the government legislation. We are confident that the courts will order the health regions to acknowledge the importance of presenting a workable essential service plan that protects the health and safety of the people of Saskatchewan and HSAS members who provide the vital services.
In Solidarity
Bill Fischer
Chair, HSAS Negotiating Committee
May 21, 2009
On April 3, 2009, HSAS and SAHO exchanged bargaining proposals. SAHO has continued to insist on retaining the right to add, delete and amend their proposals at any time during the bargaining process. HSAS could not agree to these conditions. On May 20, 2009, HSAS presented a proposal to SAHO requesting the services of a conciliator to assist in the resolution of these matters. On May 21, 2009, SAHO replied indicating acceptance of HSAS's proposal. It is anticipated that the conciliatory process will commence on the next bargaining dates in June to facilitate productive negotiations with SAHO.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Fischer
Chair
Negotiating Committee
Media Release - May 20, 2009
The following news release was issued on May 20, 2009 at 11:00 am.
April 28, 2009
Media Release - April 23, 2009
The following news release was issued on April 23, 2009 at 11:00 am.
Media Release - April 1, 2009
The following news release was issued on April 1, 2009 at 11:00 am.
February 2009
Greetings and the best of the New Year. The Negotiating Committee has been meeting regularly throughout the fall and winter. The focus of the committee has been developing proposals for the upcoming negotiations. Once the proposals are completed they will be given to Executive Council for approval. It is anticipated that negotiations with SAHO will commence in March.
In December, a sub-committee was struck to deal with essential service demands by the health regions. The essential service legislation passed by the government in May of 2008 will greatly restrict the union’s ability to pressure SAHO to have meaningful dialogue concerning the new contract. With this in mind, the committee will stay at the table as long as is required to achieve the best contract possible for the membership. You will be updated on the progress of negotiations once they commence.
Bill Fischer
Chair
Negotiating Committee
Media Release - January 27th, 2009
On January 27th, President Chris Driol issued a media release regarding Essential Services.
Audio version of this event.
October 2008
The Negotiating Committee has completed their review of the Bargaining Survey and Workload Assessment Tool . A summary of the data collected is being mailed to all members and a more detailed breakdown of the survey will be available on-line at the HSAS web site. The Negotiating Committee will be meeting numerous times over the next months to formulate the bargaining proposals for the up coming round of bargaining. This will be a challenging round of bargaining as HSAS will be one of the first unions having to deal with the Essential Service Legislation. The committee would like to thank the membership for taking the time to complete the survey last spring and to remind every one to stay active and regularly view the HSAS web site to stay informed.
In Solidarity
Bill Fischer
Negotiating Committee Chair
June 2008
Your Negotiating Committee wishes to thank the hundreds of members who took time to complete the Bargaining Survey and Workload Assessment which were sent out to the Membership in late April. In order to ensure that our bargaining proposals truly reflect the needs of our members, your on-going input and support are vital.
Your Negotiating Committee encourages you to continue offering your ideas over the coming months as we begin the work of preparing our proposals package to be presented to SAHO early next year. We are committed to providing regular updates to you as we move through this process through mail outs and home emails. If you would like to be added to our Members home email database, please contact our Saskatoon Office at 955-3399 or (toll-free) 1-888-565-3399 or email larsonc.hsas@sasktel.net.
Your Negotiating Committee,
Bill Fischer (Chair)
Warren Chykowski
Cathy Dickson
Chris Driol
Debra Ginther
Natalie Horejda
Marcel Shevalier
February 2008
Most HSAS members have only recently received a copy of the present Collective Agreement and it is only 14 months till the next round of negotiations begins. The changes to The Trade Union Act and the Essential Services Legislation being tabled by our new government create new challenges for effective collective bargaining.
At this time we wish to thank the members of HSAS who stepped forward to volunteer to serve on the Provincial Negotiating Committee. The appointment of members to the bargaining committee will be completed in February. Following a committee orientation, one of the first orders of business will be the development of a Bargaining Survey to be sent out to the Membership. The survey will help to form the framework of HSAS’s bargaining proposals for the upcoming round of negotiations. So please, take the time to complete the survey once you have received it and return it as per the directions.
In Solidarity,
Bill Fischer
Chair, Provincial Negotiating Committee