Over the past two weeks, the SAHO bargaining committee has worked to revise its proposals and reframe its approach to effectively move negotiations to conclusion, respond to issues raised by the Health Provider Unions, and narrow proposals to support important healthcare priorities.  This resulted in SAHO taking time to develop individual comprehensive proposal packages to table with each union on Friday July 10, 2026.

Each union’s package addresses the employers’ key priorities, including the movement of employees and work, portability of benefits and seniority, contracting in and additional monetary proposals. Addressing these priorities will enable more efficient patient centered care across the province.

The HPUs continue to raise concerns regarding proposals on movement of employees. SAHO’s proposals are not intended to move employees involuntarily, at-will across the province. Rather, these proposals will maintain, and in many instances, reduce the current distances employees are required to travel. Additionally, the proposals support reducing barriers to ensure effective and timely patient care, enhanced opportunities for recruitment, retention and career development of employees, and reducing reliance on temporary third-party staff. 

The examples below demonstrate how HPU territorial boundaries negatively impact patient care and unnecessarily restrict the ability of the employer to address workload issues. 

Example #1

Lab services are offered in Craik (SEIU-West), Davidson (SEIU-West) and Imperial (CUPE) 

a)  Should Imperial experience an unexpected or unplanned absence from a Combined Laboratory and X-Ray Technologist (CLXT) and be unable to provide CLXT services, patients/public requiring lab services would need to travel to another community or wait until the CLXT returns.

 SAHO’s proposals would enable the employer to send a CLXT from Davidson (70 km, 36-minute drive) or Craik (64.2 km, 46-minute drive) to Imperial to ensure patients continue to receive services in their home community. Employees sent to Imperial to maintain lab services would be paid their wage from the time they leave their community until the time they return and mileage for the distance travelled.  

b)  Should Craik or Davidson (27.3 km apart, 19-minute drive) experience an unexpected or unplanned absence from a CLXT, the employer would not be able to provide support across locations because Craik and Davidson are in two different and separate SEIU-West bargaining units.

Example #2 

Medical Office Assistants provide administrative support for Physicians and Nurse Practitioners in Primary Health Care clinics in Melfort (SGEU) and Kinistino (CUPE).  

 If the Medical Office Assistant (MOA) in Kinistino has an unexpected absence and no MOA is available to provide services, clinic operations may be significantly impacted as there is no one available to answer phone calls, serve patients with appointments or book new appointments. 

 This may result in appointment cancellations and subsequent long waits for patients to access care close to home or require travelling long distances to access care from another community. 

 SAHO’s proposals would enable the employer to send an MOA from Melfort (30.4 km, 19-minute drive) to Kinistino to ensure patients continue to receive services in their home community. Employees sent to Kinistino would be paid their wage from the time they leave Melfort until the time they return home and mileage for the distance travelled.  

This round of bargaining continues to provide an opportunity to review and modernize collective agreements to better reflect the realities of Saskatchewan’s healthcare environment, the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Affiliates.

Discussions have included initiatives focused on strengthening healthcare delivery across Saskatchewan by maximizing employment opportunities and enhancing timely access to patient care.   

The next bargaining dates are scheduled for July 27-30, 2026, in Saskatoon. SAHO has offered unions additional bargaining dates prior to and following this session to support negotiations.  

Union/CUPE,Union/SEIU-West,Union/SGEU July 10, 2026