Healthcare workers rally in Yorkton to demand better retention policies and fair wages

WATCH: Sask. healthcare workers represented by CUPE 5430 held a rally in Yorkton to demand better retention policies and fair wages.

Healthcare workers represented by CUPE 5430 rallied in Yorkton on Tuesday to demand fair wages and better policies to keep staff in the province.

The group gathered with flags and signs at Yorkton’s City Centre Park as they prepared to march to Yorkton MLA David Chan’s office to deliver their demands.

“We pretty much want to let [MLA Chan and the public] take a message to the [Saskatchewan] Premier and the Minister of Health about the condition of healthcare,” Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE Health Care Workers in Saskatchewan said.

In their opinion, healthcare in the province is crumbling down. Jalloh said they have been bargaining a collective agreement for over two years without much success.

“We’ve been without a contract for three years,” Sandee Michalchuk, a licensed practical nurse told CTV News at the event. “We’ve received 0 per cent, 0 per cent, and 0 per cent. And with the increases that MLAs and government officials have given themselves, that is shameful to give that amount of money.”

Michalchuk said the real issue facing healthcare in the province is retention, not recruitment.

“You can recruit all you want but we can’t keep them in the province,” she said. “They’re not going to stay because they don’t have the job satisfaction and the pay. We’re the lowest paid of all the provinces.”

Just a day before the rally, Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill visited Yorkton to announce a new family physician residency seat opening up in Yorkton next July. Minister Cockrill was asked whether the province plans to offer incentives in order to retain the physicians completing their residencies in communities like Yorkton.

He argued that the compensation for physicians in Saskatchewan is among some of the best across Canada. He did not mention any additional incentives.

“I’ve told this to him face to face, five times. Healthcare is not only about doctors,” Jalloh said. “There are so many people in healthcare that is not a doctor.”

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts sent to your device

Those working in different healthcare positions say they feel underpaid and undervalued.

“Bring more people and bring more travel nurses and bring more staff in, orientate them. Pay for that. And then watch them leave to a different province where they can make more money and feel like they’re valued,” Michalchuk said.

She thinks that instead of paying to bring people in, the government should invest in healthcare workers who are already here.

“Support us, fund us, give the funding, keep the funding in the province,” she listed. “[The government] can do incentives like nurses’ aides [for those who] may be wanting to go back to school, fund that. LPNs maybe wanting to go back for their RNs, fund that. Fund retirees to come back and get them hired.”

She added that they are tasked with more work due to staffing shortages, while their salaries are low.

“Often, I’m not getting vacation time, and working overtime,” she said.

Jalloh was asked whether they would consider job action if they don’t see their demands met.

“Whatever it takes. Whatever demands we get from our members to get the job action, actually, we will do that,” he said.

CTV News reached out to MLA David Chan for comment and are awaiting a response.