Your SH bargaining team met with the Treasury Board Secretariat (employer) from May 28-30, 2024 and again from June 10-12, 2024. We had been anticipating the employer’s monetary proposal be tabled in the first session, however only received their full position during the second session.
Unfortunately, the employer’s monetary proposal fell well below the amount required to resolve the historical pay discrepancies that continue to plague health care workers in the federal public service. Not only did the employer’s pay proposal not even begin to address the ever growing pay gaps for our members, but also illustrated their lack of concern over the desperately low and depleting staffing levels, the professional and personal over reliance on the staff that remain and the high stress working environments leading to burnout.
It seems the employer is ok with status quo – but we are not! We will continue to demand that the employer respond to each of our classification’s pay concerns and pressure them to recognize and value the work you do each day.
We also want to share the alarming findings from our recent SH retention survey, which had an exceptional 39% response rate. A staggering 31% of respondents are considering leaving the federal public service; 56% are contemplating leaving within the next two years, with half of those planning to exit within the next year. The primary reason cited for this potential mass exodus? Compensation. Thank you to those who participated in the survey; we have laid out these crucial findings at the bargaining table with the employer.
Despite our frustration, we concluded our meetings with a strong counterproposal, clearly outlining our demands and the compensation that our members deserve.
We have scheduled additional virtual meetings with the employer over the next few weeks and we remain resolute in our commitment to negotiate for fair compensation for all classifications.
Stay tuned for more information on our next drop in sessions. We will keep you informed of any further developments after each bargaining session.
SH Bargaining Team