Our staff are one of our most valued resources, and a recently signed
Letter of Understanding (LOU) between employers and all health care unions (CUPE, HSAS, SEIU-West, SGEU, SUN) ensures that we will have people where and when we need them to address COVID-19.
The temporary Letter of Understanding (LOU) was signed to support the creation of a Labour Pool and the cohorting of staff to address health care needs. The LOU allows for a supplemental workforce to be utilized after other processes related to offering work to internal employees have been pursued.
In summary, the Labour Pool and cohorting could include:
- The temporary assignment of staff within a single work area, unit, facility, department or community;
- The temporary redeployment of staff to another work area, unit, facility, department or community;
- Staff able to volunteer for additional working hours assigned through the Labour Pool; and
- Staff assigned to the Labour Pool if their work area or unit has been closed or slowed.
Parties to the LOU are the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO), and the five unions representing health care workers including Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN), Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan (HSAS), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Service Employees International Union-West (SEIU-West) and the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU). The Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory is not included in the LOU.
We are pleased that all parties were able to negotiate an agreement that allows us to work together to serve the best interests of patients, clients and residents.