Premier Brad Wall announced on Tuesday that his government is looking to reduce public sector compensation by 3.5 per cent starting in the 2017/18 fiscal year. This includes elected officials.
“Our government is asking the Board of Internal Economy to approve a 3.5 per cent salary reduction for the Premier, all Ministers and MLAs,” Wall said in a statement.
“I have always said – we will not ask other public sector workers to do anything we aren’t prepared to do ourselves as elected officials.”
According to Wall, the proposed 3.5 per cent reduction would save the province $250 million annually. Approximately $7 billion from the provincial budget goes into compensation across government.
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Staff from the premier’s office and minister’s offices are being asked to take nine unpaid days off per year. The province says this will effectively reduce their pay by 3.5 per cent.
The pay reduction for MLAs and political staffers is expected to save $500,000 annually.
For other public sector workers, the province expects the 3.5 per cent reduction in compensation can be achieved through negotiations with union or by employer policy for out of scope employees.
Most union contracts with the province are either expired or expiring soon. Eighteen of the province’s 39 collective bargaining agreements are currently expired, and negotiations are open. Six will be expiring at the end of March. The physician contract with the Saskatchewan Medical association is also expiring at the end of March.
“We do think it’s important for collective bargaining to take place. So we’ve set this as an overall goal for the government’s negotiations with all of its public sector unions, and the Crowns as well,” Wall said.
“The savings can come from any number of different measures and options. I would say it doesn’t have to be a salary piece.”
Wall added that this is not an ultimatum for unions and they will come to the bargaining table in good faith that a 3.5 per cent reduction can be agreed upon.
“We got people meeting with government bureaucrats today to talk about collective bargaining, and then the premier is out here today making these announcements and it just kicks the stool right out from under these managers at the bargaining tables,” SGEU President Bob Bymoen said.
Bymoen added that the bargaining will still go on as normal.
The opposition NDP are on board with a 3.5 per cent cut to their salaries, but interim leader Trent Wotherspoon said the government should not be punishing civil servants for the mismanagement of cabinet.
“We need to see cabinet take at least 20 per cent off their allowance. We need to see a full commitment to the reduction of at least five MLAs,” Wotherspoon said.
“This is no permission by us taking 3.5 per cent ourselves for the Premier to cut the pay of any worker in Saskatchewan.”
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