Twenty-seven workers at Salvation Army (Bethany Home) in Saskatoon are the latest members to join the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Bethany Home is a transitional unit for girls aged 12-18. The girls are referred/placed through social services. This is a temporary placement for 1-6 months to assist and support these girls until a long-term placement is found.
While at Bethany Home the girls are given the opportunity to learn life skills in a structured environment such as cooking, planning healthy meals, laundry, and personal hygiene. They also have the opportunity to learn to make healthy choices and how to deal with conflict and crisis situations.
The newest members of CUPE voted to join the union in a mail-in ballot that was counted on May 18, 2023. The Labour Relations Board issued the certification order on May 29, 2023.
“We are very pleased to welcome the staff at The Salvation Army (Bethany Home) into the CUPE family,” said Judy Henley, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “Joining CUPE is a big step towards achieving fairness in the workplace. We will work hard to negotiate a fair deal for our newest members.”
“CUPE looks forward to sitting down with the Salvation Army management to negotiate a first collective agreement that fairly compensates our members for the work they perform and addresses other key workplace concerns,” added Henley.
CUPE Saskatchewan is the largest union in the province and represents over 30,000 workers in health care, education, universities, community-based organizations, childcare, municipalities, libraries, social services, board and agencies and many more.