Health care restructuring
Dear SGEU Health Providers,
On January 4, 2017, the Government of Saskatchewan announced its plans to consolidate the current 12 Regional Health Authorities into one single health region by the fall of this year.
The ministry informed the unions representing health care workers about this decision during a conference call, at the same time that government was announcing it at a news conference. Unfortunately, the ministry did not provide the unions with any more details than what the media were told. We are hoping, along with the other health care unions, to meet with the Ministry of Health in order to gain a better understanding of what restructuring will mean for you as health care workers, and for the vital services that you provide to Saskatchewan people.
We know there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the potential impact of restructuring, and that it may be causing stress on you and your families. As your union representatives, we want to reassure you that we will do our best to keep you informed. We at SGEU will continue to advocate for quality public health care, on your behalf, to ensure that the current level of services you provide will continue, without disruption, throughout this process of restructuring. We have advocated, and will continue to advocate, for maintaining health care jobs and services across the province, including in rural and northern areas. Our priority is to ensure that you, as frontline workers, and the high quality care you provide, won’t be adversely affected.
In previous rounds of health care amalgamation and reorganization in Saskatchewan, many health members were forced to change unions. To prevent a repeat of this, SGEU and Saskatchewan’s other health care unions have committed to work together to ensure health workers’ existing union membership is maintained. We are committed to working with other unions, and with the provincial government, to ensure that a stable and predictable labour relations environment is maintained and respected during the restructuring of the health care system.
Your collective agreement remains the same. As we receive more information we will keep you informed.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact your negotiating committee.
Sincerely,
Negotiating Committee
Bonnie Erickson, Chair, 306-920-7668
Kim Nordmarken, Vice-Chair, 306-276-7765
Cynthia Roney, 306-327-7638
Ryan Favel, 306-930-0371
Wendy McPhail, 306-425-7668
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