SAHO and the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan (HSAS) were scheduled to meet February 9–12, 2026 for collective bargaining.

SAHO provided a draft agenda with outstanding issues from our December and January sessions.  At the bargaining table on February 9, for the first time, HSAS suggested an additional item be added related to Article 30.05 – Extended Health and Enhanced Dental Plans (EHED), which sets the Employer’s annual contribution rate. 

SAHO understands that Benefit Plan contribution rate is a critical issue, and there is no desire by the employers or SAHO to see any reductions of EHED benefits for HSAS employees. Contribution rates are part of the total compensation package, which includes all monetary items like wages, benefits, premium pay, and reimbursement of eligible expenses. 

Typically, monetary issues are negotiated after completing or near to completing negotiations on non-monetary issues. This is the process that has been used in previous rounds of bargaining and is a practice generally followed in collective bargaining across Canada. However, understanding the importance of this issue, SAHO agreed to add it to the top of the agenda.

HSAS immediately tabled a proposal for increases to contribution rate up to and including April 1, 2028, and, with no discussion, left the room and refused to have any further negotiations on any other agenda item until this matter was settled. 

This was extremely disappointing and not aligned with productive use of time. 

A request to increase the contribution rate outside of the monetary package requires SAHO to consult with our principals.  SAHO committed to having a response no later than the April bargaining dates and advised that we may have a response by the next bargaining dates in March. Despite these assurances, HSAS refused to return to negotiations.  This is the second time that HSAS has walked away from the table and refused to meet. 

This refusal to bargain falls short of the legislated obligation of both parties to make every reasonable effort to reach a collective agreement and further delays the already slow progress from the union. 

In addition to the new EHED benefits contribution rate proposal, there were 13 items slated for discussion this session.  HSAS was to provide responses for 10 of these items, the majority of which SAHO has been waiting for a reply to since December 2025. SAHO managed to get HSAS back to the table for five minutes to provide our responses to the three agenda items that we were responsible for, one of which was agreement to HSAS’s proposal on Article 25.02 Disasters, State of Emergency, Public Emergency. Although it was agreed to, HSAS refused to meet again to formally sign it off. 

HSAS’s refusal to continue negotiations resulted in face-to-face discussions for less than 30 minutes during the four days of this bargaining session. 

SAHO was further disappointed by HSAS’s assertion that we will not be close to concluding negotiations before the end of summer. SAHO provided HSAS with Notice to Bargain on January 11, 2024, and was prepared to meet any time after that date. However, HSAS didn’t start negotiations until January 2025. SAHO firmly believes that with focus and productive use of upcoming bargaining dates, it is reasonable to reach a tentative agreement in the next six months, but that will take commitment and effective use of time from the HSAS. 

Lastly, several HSAS proposals have yet to be tabled, many of which appear to be language-related but may have monetary impacts as well. We have been in negotiations for over 14 months without having visibility into what HSAS is seeking. SAHO has asked that HSAS present these proposals. We do not expect HSAS to table a full monetary package at this point, but it is reasonable to request full knowledge of what the union is seeking. Without this information, SAHO is unable to fully assess the overall impact of HSAS’ proposals or develop a comprehensive strategy to support sustainable language and monetary improvements for HSAS members. 

SAHO remains committed to achieving a timely settlement. We believe in a solutions-focused bargaining process where constructive participation at the table is the most effective path forward. But both parties must be at the table and willing to actively engage in negotiations for this to occur. 

We resume negotiations on March 23 and 24, 2026 and we expect HSAS to return to the table without any further delay.   

Union/HSAS March 05, 2026