Many SEIU-represented healthcare workers have gone four years without a contract.
“Healthcare workers are the heartbeat of our healthcare system,” Beck said, before addressing the workers directly, “Against all odds, and without proper support, you all continue to show up for their patients, for each other, and for Saskatchewan,” she added.
Nathaniel Teed, NDP Shadow Minister for Labour, said emergency rooms across Saskatchewan have become overcrowded and unsafe after years of government neglect.
“Workers are describing emergency rooms as warzones,” Teed said. “Patients are crammed shoulder to shoulder in hallways while exhausted healthcare workers are pushed beyond their limits.”
Beck pointed to recent concerns raised by frontline workers about weapons and violence in Saskatchewan hospitals as another sign the healthcare system is in crisis.
“It took brave healthcare workers speaking out to expose the dangerous conditions patients and staff are facing,” Teed said.
“Weapons have no place in our hospitals, but Scott Moe ignored the addictions and mental health crises until things spiraled out of control.”
Scott Moe’s latest budget failed healthcare workers by flatlining healthcare funding and refusing to address chronic staffing shortages and burnout.
“We hear from healthcare workers working 12-hour shifts and still needing to stop at food banks or sell blood plasma just to get by,” Teed said. “That is absolutely unacceptable.”
Beck’s team introduced legislation this session to freeze Saskatchewan Health Authority executive pay until frontline workers receive a fair deal, expose contracts with private healthcare providers, and ban workplace “snitch lines” targeting healthcare workers.
“Scott Moe is auctioning off our public healthcare system piece by piece while frontline workers are left behind,” Teed said. “Healthcare workers deserve a government that listens to them and fights for them.”
Beck’s team continues to actively consult on future actions to take Saskatchewan from last to first in Canada — people can get involved at YourCareYourSay.ca.
“It’s time for big, bold change in Saskatchewan,” Teed said. “We used to lead this country in public healthcare, but Scott Moe has cost us all of that. He broke the system and now he’s going to auction it off piece by piece to his buddies.
“We have to stop him. It’s time for change.”
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