Saskatchewan health sciences workers ratify contract

Two years of negotiations result in 7.5 per cent wage increase

Saskatchewan’s 3,000 paramedical health professionals have ratified a new contract after two years of negotiations.

The four-year contract also marks the end of longest running strike action in the history of Saskatchewan’s health care sector. Members of the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan (HSAS) began conducting rotating strikes in May 2011

The union voted 87 per cent of accepting the agreement with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO).

Members will receive the following wage increases:

  • 2009 – two per cent
  • 2010 – 1.5 per cent
  • 2011 – two per cent
  • 2012 – two per cent

HSAS had been seeking an 18.5 per cent wage increase over four years for its members.

“Health Sciences will continue to campaign for an end to the chronic under-staffing of our specialized professions, because under-staffing has created long waiting lists for many of our services,” said HSAS President Cathy Dickson in a press release. “While this agreement may represent the best that can be achieved today, Health Sciences will continue to bring these and other shortcomings to the public’s attention in the months and years ahead so that future contract negotiations can focus on practical solutions to these important health care issues.”

HSAS represents specialized health care workers including emergency care workers, hospital pharmacists and respiratory therapists.

Members of HSAS and SAHO will meet on Thursday, August 11 to officially sign the agreement, which extends through to March 31, 2013.

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