During just one of dozens of similar rallies that have taken place across the province, over 50 SEIU West members marched for change in Saskatoon over the lunch hour on Thursday.

SEIU West Vice President Jason Monteith explains that his members have been overworked, underpaid, and without a collective agreement for nearly two years.

“Healthcare workers carried us through a pandemic. They’ve worked short-staffed. They’ve worked double shifts. We’ve heard of staff working as many as 26 consecutive hours.”

Monteith says in the last collective agreement, over five years they received zero, zero, one, two, and two per cent wage increases, which he claims do not keep up with the cost of living, or even groceries.

He admits that the province’s recruitment and retention efforts don’t seem to be working, as more staff seem to be leaving than coming in.

The Vice President says the current round of bargaining could be going better, as the union meets with the province once every five weeks but are still ‘worlds apart on a lot of issues’. He hopes to reach a fair collective agreement with the employer as soon as possible.

The union has four more rallies scheduled for next week, and it will continue to draw attention to the issue until it is fixed.