SASKATOON — Sherri Gilliard, who works in a care home east of Market Mall, joined about 30 of her SEIU-West colleagues during another information picket on Friday, May 2, at the corner of Preston Avenue Â鶹´«Ã½AV and Adelaide Street East.
Gilliard has been a healthcare worker for her entire professional career. Taking care of people is a vocation for her, so she worked in a nursing home, fresh out of high school in 1981.
She endured every hit and slap from people who were suffering, some were people in the twilight of their years who had Alzheimer disease, and persevered. Four decades later, she’s still part of the province’s healthcare system, which they said is broken and needs to be fixed.
“Our last [pay] raise would have been in April of 2023, and how paltry it is, is ridiculous. I know so many people working in other jobs who have started below my wage and are now excelling past my wage. It is ridiculous,” said Gilliard.
“I love my job. It isn't always about money. But, to have the respect, the wage we are allowed, or should be allowed to receive. It is not just enough, and the fact that we have to wait three years between contracts is still ridiculous.”
She added that, contrary to belief, healthcare workers do not earn much with their salaries, which cannot keep up with inflation as the cost of living continues to increase and is expected to rise with the tariffs imposed by the US and threats of a potential trade war.
“I live paycheck to paycheck. I have a husband with a job. If I'm struggling, how are other families coping? It's just so difficult to make ends meet. I'm doing okay, but that's just basic needs. We're not doing anything extra. I don't go anywhere for holidays,” said Gilliard.
“It's not enough. It isn't enough. And the cost of everything, even since January, the cost increases are insane. You get groceries every time you go the bill is $25 more. I want to be paid what I'm worth for once.”
She said she shares the exact sentiment of her colleagues that those working in Saskatchewan’s healthcare sector are not getting respect from their management, the health region, and the provincial government.
“We are out here. We're looking after people with the knowledge we have gained. I've been with the health region for 44 years. We shouldn't go that long without a [bargaining agreement]. Then the Essential Services Act took away our right to strike,” Gilliard said.
“They say we're essential, but they don't pay us like we're essential. Are we or aren't we [essential workers]? Make up your mind. We don't have fair representation. We are pushing to cover client needs. Currently, I'm with home care, so we go out in the community.”
Gilliard added that their mental health is also suffering due to the long work hours and understaffing in hospitals and other facilities, and most of the time, they cannot find a replacement worker who calls in sick.
“[We] can't be treated like this and expect to have a good mindset 24-7, and the struggles, we're short-staffed. We're covering caseloads. We're trying to absorb them. I used to work in the hospital and long-term care. They never replace the first person who called in sick,” she said.
“They're always saying: ‘Oh, that's recent since COVID.’ No. I started working at a nursing home in 1981. I went on the floor as a [Continuing Care Assistant] in 1987, and we’ve been working regularly short-staffed since.”
Gilliard said, which is why SEIU-West members, most of whom are frustrated and at their wits’ end, are making information pickets to educate the public about not getting better wages and what they have been experiencing.
“Usually, it gets better when we get close to when people take vacation time off. Over the last two years, the stress level has not alleviated after the holidays. We want everyone to know what we're facing and suffering at the hands of the current government,” she said.
“How unfair it is, how they just treat us like a last resort. I know healthcare does not bring in money. It's not a profit-making thing. But at the same time, if you don't invest, you won't get anything.”
