March 19, 2025

For immediate release

REGINA – Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU) President Tracey Sauer is expressing disappointment in Wednesday’s provincial budget and questioning its lack of support for workers in the province.

“Amid promises to expand services, today’s budget didn’t address the stagnating wages and challenges facing Saskatchewan workers—including the SGEU workers that keep our province functioning,” said Sauer.

“Dozens of collective bargaining agreements are expiring or expired for thousands of workers in SGEU. Instead of planning for these expected and justified wage increases, I am afraid that our members will once again be the scapegoated for costs that should have been budgeted for in advance.”

In September, SGEU condemned the government for attributing its larger-than-anticipated deficit to its contract with the Public Service/Government Employment (PS/GE) bargaining unit, which represents members across government ministries and agencies.

“With the skyrocketing cost of living over the past several years, these expenses shouldn’t come as a surprise. The theme of this budget is ‘Delivering for you,’ but it fails to improve conditions for those who are actually going to be delivering these services: Saskatchewan workers."

In February, the government announced almost $1 billion in special warrants, partially due to “increased costs due to the ratification of various collective bargaining agreements.”

“With the skyrocketing cost of living over the past several years, these expenses shouldn’t come as a surprise. The theme of this budget is ‘Delivering for you,’ but it fails to improve conditions for those who are actually going to be delivering these services: Saskatchewan workers."

“Health providers in Saskatchewan have been without a contract for two years as of March, and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency (SCA) has been without a contract for a year now. Part of the government’s recruitment and retention strategy should be to ensure timely and fairly negotiated collective bargaining agreements that provide a compensation package and protections that health care workers deserve.”

While Sauer acknowledged increased funding for the SCA, she emphasized the need to address the concerns of SCA workers.
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“As the government well knows, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency workers are overworked and under-resourced. Our members are in crisis. And yet there was no funding announced to provide the badly needed expansions to SCA workspaces, where workers are crammed into spaces meant for far fewer workers. The minister of health promised that the funds from the tobacco settlement announced last week would go to cancer care and prevention. Safe and usable workspaces need to be at the top of the list.”

Finally, Sauer questioned the budget’s lack of measures to address and protect workers from the impacts of tariffs.

“There are no measures here to protect workers from the impacts of tariffs. Workers from all sectors are going to be impacted by Trump’s trade war. The government has a responsibility to provide supports to help Saskatchewan workers weather these uncertain times.”

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For more information:
John Ashton
Phone: 306.519.2903
E-mail: jashton@sgeu.org

About SGEU

The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union has been working together for Saskatchewan since 1913. Today, SGEU represents 20,000 members in six sectors across Saskatchewan. Visit sgeu.org to learn more.