On behalf of the SEIU-West bargaining committee, I want to thank all of our members covered by the SAHO agreement for their engagement; interest in the updates; attending meetings and virtual town halls; the emailed questions; and for making your collective voice ring out loud and clear through your vote.

The rejection of the tentative agreement gives us a clear direction and mandate to take back to the table and let SHA and the Government of Saskatchewan know that this offer doesn’t even come close to what is a fair level of compensation for our members.

As we said in our tentative agreement presentations, this doesn’t automatically mean that the government will bring more money to the table right away. But if we need to ask our members for a strike mandate to get what we deserve - we know that you have knowledge about the process, including essential services negotiations and we will continue to communicate clearly at every step of this process.

I want to be clear about this rejection: this was union democracy at work. Why didn't the bargaining committee make a recommendation about this deal? Because we know our members are informed and know their own minds. We know that you are the experts about your workplaces, the work you do and what you are worth. We wanted the government to hear YOUR voice on what they need to do.

Right now, CUPE and SGEU are notifying their members about the outcome of their ratification votes. And now it’s time to roll up our sleeves as we have much work to do: discussions with our coalition partners about the next steps, notification to the employer, and setting dates to get together at our next bargaining session. And we will do this together.

Have a good Easter break brothers and sisters.

In Solidarity on behalf of the SEIU-West SAHO bargaining committee,

Barbara Cape