CUPE 5430 has been successful in staving off efforts to contract out long-term care in Saskatchewan’s health care system. The Saskatchewan Health Authority, SHA, was unsuccessful in fulfilling the requirements outlined in the collective agreement under Article 6.02 – Restrictions on Subcontracting and Contracting Out and has since abandoned the planned project to use private companies to replace the long-term care beds from Regina Pioneer Village Care Home. In September of this year, the SHA signalled its intent to move forward with a publicly funded and publicly operated project.
“From day one, we had significant concerns with the provincial government’s plans to contract out long-term care services in Saskatchewan,” said Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE 5430. “While we welcome the news that the replacement beds for Regina Pioneer Village will now be publicly run, years were wasted when they could have been building desperately needed new public long-term care homes. Instead of listening, they plowed ahead with their privatization plans which have now failed.”
In a more recent case of the SHA contracting out in health care, the union received a decision from an arbitration board which ruled in favour of CUPE 5430 and found that the process under Article 6.02 in the collective agreement was not followed. The dispute arose when the employer used contract continuing care assistants, CCAs, from an Ontario company to provide health care services at the Wolseley Memorial Integrated Care Centre. The arbitration board decision sets an important precedent which will make it more difficult for the SHA to use contract health care workers in Saskatchewan moving forward.
“The arbitrator’s decision shows that our contracting out language is strong and effective,” added Jalloh. “This government rolled out the red carpet for these contract workers and was happy to pay a private company $60/hour for staff to work shoulder to shoulder with our CCA members who are making significantly less for the same work. It’s insulting and should have never happened. These are considered victories in our fight against privatization, which support our efforts to strengthen the public health care system in Saskatchewan.”
Article 6.02 creates a significant barrier to the provincial government’s privatization efforts. It requires the employer to fully disclose any and all information regarding costing, to consult with the union on alternate solutions, and to demonstrate that any intention of contracting out must be cost-effective and maintain the quality of health care services.