On January 18, 2019 representatives from CUPE Local 5430 met with Greg Ottenbreit, Yorkton MLA and Minister for Rural and Remote Health to discuss our concerns with workload and chronic under-staffing.
The delegation submitted close to 1,500 postcards calling for the province to address workload by:
- Ensuring staff are replaced when sick or on leave;
- Improving shift schedules to reduce on-call work;
- Increasing funding for frontline staff;
- Having meaningful discussion with health care unions about staff, resources, recruitment, and retention (especially in rural Saskatchewan).
“Every day members of CUPE Local 5430 experience challenges associated with heavy and increasing workload that impacts their ability to provide quality care,” said Pearl Blommaert, Vice President of CUPE Local 5430. “We would like to thank Minister Ottenbreit for the meeting, and we are hopeful we will see some movement on this very important area.”
Representing CUPE at this meeting were Pearl Blommaert, Donna Krawetz, Linda Vancuren, Nancy Black, Evelyn Stachura, Carmen Stadnyk and staff representative Dolores Douglas.
Local 5430 would like to thank every member who signed a workload postcard. We would also encourage members to report workload issues. Please contact your CUPE Region Office or a facility representative if you require a workload complaint form.