Posts published in April 2026

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Front-line health care workers gathered at the Saskatchewan Legislature today to highlight new research showing that Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) in Saskatchewan are among the lowest paid in the country, intensifying concerns about staffing shortages and the stability of the province’s health system.

Members of CUPE 5430’s Continuing Care Assistant Committee travelled from communities across Saskatchewan to present findings that show CCAs in the province earn approximately $3 per hour less than the national average.

CUPE health care workers have not received a wage increase in more than four years, which deepens the already critical retention crisis, as health care workers leave the health system for better-paying opportunities elsewhere.

The group attended question period at the Legislature, where the issue of CCA wages and workforce retention was raised. Following proceedings, front-line workers spoke with media about their experiences on the frontlines. 

“Investing in workers is investing in patient care,” said Helen Head, CUPE 5430 Region 3 General Vice-President. “If we want a strong, reliable health care system, we need to start by valuing and adequately compensating the people who deliver that care every day.”

Manitoba’s largest labour union says it will be taking action in advance of a strike to build pressure on the Lord Selkirk School Division for a fair deal.

CUPE 1522 held a formal strike vote on April 11 and has been without a raise since January 2023.

“People have gone without a raise for three years; that’s totally unacceptable,” said Angela Mortimer, President of CUPE 1522. “During this affordability crisis, we can’t have our lowest-paid workers with their wages frozen any longer.”

CUPE 1522 is set to begin conciliation on April 28, 2026. If conciliation is unsuccessful by April 29, the local will proceed with an information picket in Selkirk at 4:30 p.m.

“It’s important that the employer sees our members are fired up,” said Mortimer. “They’re willing to fight to get concessions off the table and to get a fair deal and provide the best care for all students, and we will show them that if we need to.”

This action follows “Strength in Silence” on April 21, a school board sit-in, where more than 100 school support staff were in attendance at the school/public board meeting to show support for their bargaining committee.

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CUPE Manitoba, the union representing over 40,000 workers in Manitoba, has begun its annual convention. 

Delegates from Manitoba’s largest union will debate resolutions including key issues for provincial, municipal and school board funding and policies. 

“This is where our members tell us what CUPE’s priorities are when we are talking to all levels of government,” said Gina McKay, CUPE Manitoba President, “I am really excited to be building our priorities for the coming year.”

CUPE Manitoba will be debating a multi-year strategic directions document including a comprehensive policy review of CUPE member priorities broken down by cabinet minister. 

“This document will be our guide when we are talking to decision-makers at every level,” said McKay. “Having a document ratified by our members that is comprehensive and covers each of our sectors is crucial.”

CUPE Manitoba will be debating resolutions including staff-to-patient ratios in personal care homes, reducing agency staff in health care, and centralized bargaining for education workers.

“Resolutions come from our local membership and reflect what our members are telling us on the front lines,” said McKay. “I’m excited to hear the debate and look forward to working to bring their issues forward.”

CUPE Manitoba delegates will be hearing from keynote speakers, including Premier Wab Kinew, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, City Councillor Brian Mayes, Member of Parliament Leah Gazan, and CUPE National Officers Mark Hancock and Candace Rennick.

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Demoralized, exhausted and frustrated, health care workers protested outside Lakeridge hospital in Oshawa today in response to chaotic working conditions amid provincial funding restraint.

Pam Parks, a registered practical nurse and president of CUPE 6364, which represents about 3,500 workers at three Lakeridge Health sites, said that the hospital has eliminated more than 40 jobs over the past year, even as patient volumes are rising with a corresponding increase in workloads.

“Staff are fed up with the chaotic conditions at Lakeridge. We have stretchers full of patients in the hallway, because our hospital is running over capacity. Staff are overrun because there is more work but less staff. But because of a capacity shortage, there is pressure to discharge the patients quickly – even as they actually need more hands-on care and time to recover. And yet, the hospital management wants to implement more cuts,” she said.

The hospital has been cutting jobs and reassigning work in a bid to save money due to insufficient funding from the government, Parks said.

In March, management told the union that nurses would have to take on the additional responsibility to serve food to patients as it was eliminating three full-time dietary aide workers.

Parks said that registered practical nurses were appalled because they are already stretched thin, taking care of not just their regular patients but also those on stretchers in the hallway. 

“We need appropriate nurse-to-patient ratios, which are critical to saving patients’ lives, improving their overall well-being, and preventing staff burnout,” she said. “But the hospital is constantly going backward by piling on more work on us, because there isn’t enough money to pay for safe staffing at Lakeridge.”

Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, OCHU-CUPE, said that government funding cuts have led to hundreds of layoffs across the hospital sector in the past six months, even as an ageing and growing population requires additional staffing and capacity.

“The provincial statistics tell the story very clearly – only 20% of ER patients at Lakeridge are admitted within the eight-hour target time. The average patient waits an excruciating 22.9 hours. That is unacceptable – at the least the provincial government has an obligation to meet its own standards. The people of Oshawa deserve better,” he said.