Members of SEIU-West will be donning face masks and taking up signs on Wednesday for demonstrations at three Moose Jaw locations to protest the lack of progress in bargaining talks with the provincial government.
The union, which represents 13,000 health care workers across Saskatchewan, has been in negotiations with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations since 2017 when its previous contract expired.
SEIU-West members say the pandemic has them working harder than ever in understaffed conditions, and they are calling on both the SAHO and the Saskatchewan Party to return to negotiations to solidify a contract agreement.
The demonstrations in Moose Jaw will take place at 11:30 a.m. outside of Providence Place and Crescent View Clinic, concluding at 1 p.m. before a similar gathering begins at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Safety will be top of mind, said a representative from SEIU-West, and all members present will be safely distanced, wearing masks and using hand sanitizer.
In order to keep the demonstrations within the provincial gathering limits of 30, members are also being asked to register online for a location beforehand and SEIU-West representatives will be present to run crowd control.
The Moose Jaw event is just the latest in a series of demonstrations from SEIU-West, which began on Aug. 12 with protests in Saskatoon and continued with more appearances in Wilke and Biggar on Aug. 19 and Craik and Davidson on Aug. 26. A representative from SEIU-West said future events are on the horizon following the Moose Jaw protests as well.
