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A year and a half after the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU) and the provincial government first met at the bargaining table to hash out a new contract for public service employees, union members voted to accept the government’s latest offer.
In May, months after a government-appointed mediator “began to work on bringing the two parties together,” the government and SGEU bargaining committees announced they had reached a tentative contract three-year agreement. The previous agreement had expired in September 2022.
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“This agreement is the result of a tremendous amount of effort put in by the negotiating committee, bargaining council and all (public service and government employee) members,” negotiating committee chair Lori Bossaer wrote in a statement Friday evening, shortly after the votes were tallied. “I would like to thank our members for their involvement, their solidarity, and for making their voices heard by casting a ballot.”
This new contract, which dates retroactively back to October 2022 and will last until September 2025, covers over 11,000 Public Service/Government Employment (PS/GE) employees in Saskatchewan including wildland firefighters, nurses, teachers, ferry operators, child protection workers and conservation officers.
Some of the most significant provisions in the agreement include an approximately 8 per cent wage increase over three years, an increase to matched pension contributions and new rates for employees who have to come in on the weekends or are told to wait on standby.
The contract also cements employees’ right to union representation in meetings that could result in discipline.
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“I am pleased with both parties’ commitment and co-operation in working to reach a tentative agreement,” Minister Responsible for the Public Service Commission Dustin Duncan said in a news release in May, after the then-tentative agreement was announced. “The best agreements are reached at the bargaining table, and this agreement is good for both public service employees and the people of Saskatchewan.”
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