The head of SEIU-West said staffing levels are already so low that health care in Saskatchewan is being cut close to the bone.
Barbara Cape said that’s why she has serious concerns about Premier Brad Wall‘s musing that 4,900 health jobs could be cut to help balance the budget.
READ MORE: Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall warns deficit has climbed to $1.2B
Wall said Monday that the cuts, along with layoffs in education and reduced support for vulnerable people, are being considered as the province faces a $1.2-billion deficit.
Cape said those sectors are labour-intensive and need skilled professional services.
She said workers have also expressed growing anxiety about job stability, quality of care and loss of morale as the province consolidates 12 existing health regions into a single provincial health authority.
The consolidation is expected to occur this fall.
“Our members are concerned that public health care is being dismantled with each job that is reduced, cut or privatized. Our staffing levels are so low, we are cutting close to the bone right now,” Cape said in a news release Wednesday.
READ MORE: SGEU fires back on Saskatchewan government talk of wage rollbacks, layoffs
On Tuesday, Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union president Bob Bymoen also spoke out against the potential cuts.
Bymoen said cutting the jobs would be reckless and the only way the government could do that is to contract out the work.
SEIU-West represents more than 13,000 workers in health care, education, municipalities, community-based organizations, retirement homes and other sectors.
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