CUPE Local 5430 holds rally in Moosomin
October 20, 2025, 10:43 am
Nicole Taylor, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On Friday, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 5430 held a rally on the 600 block of Main Street in Moosomin. The union wanted to bring attention to their request for a wage increase, ongoing contract negotiations and challenges in the province’s healthcare system.
Members met with Moosomin-Montmartre MLA Kevin Weedmark at his office to discuss their concerns.
“Today we are here because in three years we have not had a collective bargaining agreement,” said Sara Gustafson, the Long-Term Care Recreation Co-ordinator at the South East Integrated Care Centre in Moosomin.
“Right now our biggest argument is wages, and we have a lack of staff. I’ve been here for 10 years, and there probably hasn’t been an increase of even $1.50 in wages in 10 years. We are the frontline heroes––and I want to shout out that Moosomin is a very awesome place.
“Scott Moe came down to see our residency doctors the other day, and there was a great article that the World-Spectator did about the tour—however, we do have to support not just those doctors, but nurses, and all healthcare staff.
“We hope to rally together across the province, and hopefully people will see that we need an increase in wages to keep our frontline workers. We are losing people to other jobs because our jobs are very high stress, lots of overtime, heavy workload, and we’re being pushed to our limits. In long-term care we have more and more acuteness coming in, less staff, and then it comes down to our wage.”
“We are three and a half years without a raise, two and a half years without a collective agreement.
“We are bargaining hard for a fair deal for our members, for our healthcare workers who are putting everything on the line every single day and we are not getting anything for it so far,” said CUPE’s second regional vice president for Region 3, Kyleigh Williams.
“Enough is enough, healthcare is struggling, members are struggling, and that impacts care.
“Short staffing impacts patient care, impacts patient safety, people are mandated to stay for double shifts when they don’t know when they are going to be able to go home. Those things all have impacts on patients as well as staff and we need a fair deal that affects our working conditions and improves working conditions for staff and therefore care for patients and residents, and also provides fair compensation for the work that is being done.
“A lot of healthcare workers in Saskatchewan have invested in their education to make this a long-term career option and they’re coming into it and realizing it’s not sustainable, and they are leaving. They are leaving healthcare as a whole for other careers and that’s a shame. There are so many people in this province that have then knowledge, skills and abilities to meet the needs we have and they are not willing to do it anymore.”
Carolyn Gilewich, first regional vice president of Region 3 and former Regina-Qu’Appelle Health District employee, also voiced her concerns.
“There is no more family work balance any more with the mandating and overtime that’s going on,” said Gilewich.
“If we got paid fair wages people would be staying in our province and doing work.
“They could be doing a lot more to educate people to stay in these positions and have a better quality of life and bring money back to the communities where it belongs.
“At one time it was a great job to be in healthcare. Today I hear nobody say it’s a great job to be in healthcare, people are being underpaid.”
“I appreciate the dedicated health care workers represented by CUPE as well as all the health care professionals who serve the people of Moosomin-Montmartre,” said Moosomin-Montmartre MLA Kevin Weedmark after the meeting.
“Their commitment and care makes a tremendous difference in the lives of our families, friends, and neighbours. In every health facility in the region, and those across the province I have visited as Legislative Secretary to the Ministers of Health, I see the efforts of caring health care workers.
“I was happy to meet with CUPE members at my office in Moosomin Friday. I adjusted my schedule to ensure I could meet with them. Many of those I met with are also my constituents. I listened carefully to what they had to say and will share their thoughts with my colleagues.
“Negotiations with CUPE, SEIU-West, and SGEU are making good progress. All three unions are at a common table with SAHO, which is key to addressing shared issues.
“I am hopeful that a new collective agreement will be reached at the bargaining table, and I will continue listening to both constituents and health care providers as we work toward a system where everyone can access the care they need.
“I recognize that recruitment and retention are ongoing challenges in health care here in Saskatchewan and across Canada. That’s why our government is working hard to strengthen our workforce through significant investments. This year’s budget includes $156 million to support the Health Human Resources Action Plan, which focuses on recruiting, training, and retaining health care workers across the province.
“Some of the recent progress we’ve made includes adding 250 new and enhanced permanent full-time positions in nine high-priority occupations to stabilize staffing in rural and remote areas of our province and hiring more than 450 hard-to-recruit positions in rural, regional, and northern communities as a direct result of the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive.
“I am hopeful that a new collective agreement will be reached at the bargaining table, I trust the collective bargaining process, and I will continue listening to both constituents and health care providers in the riding.
“Our government remains focused on removing barriers to care so patients can access the services they need, when and where they need them.” Tweet
