Dear CUPE 1975 members,

We’ve heard that there is some confusion about the monetary terms of the tentative Collective Agreement, so we want to clarify a few key points ahead of today’s ratification meeting, where everything will be explained in detail.

First, some members may be unsure how the 2% increases already received in each of the past two years fit into this agreement. Although those increases have already been paid, they are part of the compensation framework under the new agreement and are included in the overall monetary package. And if you did not receive any or only a partial increment increase in 2025 or 2026, the parties have negotiated lump-sum payments to account for this.

One of the longstanding challenges has been the “broadband” or wage-range system itself. Under that system, members could not easily tell where they fell within the range, how close they were to the minimum or maximum, or when increment increases would no longer apply. Pay statements only showed earnings, not a clear hourly rate or position within a scale.

This tentative agreement replaces that structure with a transparent step system. The new wage schedule will clearly show what step you are on, making progression and future increases much easier to understand.

How the transition works:

• For the transition year (this year), members will be placed on the step within their phase that is closest to their current hourly rate — and where there is a choice, placement will be at the higher rate.
• By this point, members will have received 4% in increment increases, or up to 4% in lump-sum payments in lieu of increments in 2025 and/or 2026.
• Members will then be placed at the closest step in the 2026 wage schedule, which reflects a further 2% adjustment applied to the 2025 schedule.
• By April 1 of this year, you will clearly know what step you are on.

Placement during the transition is not based on years of service, because members may have been originally hired at different points within the old wage ranges. However, going forward, progression will be based on step advancement after each year of service. Beginning in 2027, members will see:

• General wage increases effective January 1, and
• Step progression on your anniversary date, which may be adjusted if there were breaks in service, as progression follows the definition of service. Service is defined as being actively at work or on approved leave of absence with pay (including sick leave and vacation) or on maternity leave, but does not include leave of absence without pay in excess of thirty-one (31) calendar days.

To calculate your expected increase in compensation over the term of the new agreement, you would take your hourly rate provided in your compensation statement for 2028 (the last hourly rate figure provided) and subtract what your hourly rate was in 2024 (after the increment was applied on January 1, 2024, if applicable). This will give you the hourly rate increase over the term of the agreement. To have this reflected as a percentage, you divide the hourly rate increase by the 2024 hourly rate and then multiply by 100 to get the actual percentage increase.

For example: If I am in Phase 4 and my hourly rate was $25.50 following the increment increase on January 1, 2024, my calculation would be:

January  2, 2024: $25.50/hour

January 1, 2025: 2% increment increase = $26.01/hr.

January 1, 2026: 2% increment increase = $26.53/hr.

April 1, 2026: Placement at Step 4, Phase 4 which results in hourly rate adjustment to $26.76

January 1, 2027: 2.25% increase to rates of pay = $27.37/hr.

July 1, 2027 (my anniversary date): Move from Phase 4/Step 4 to Phase 4/Step 5 = $27.91/hr.

January 1, 2028: 2.25 increase to rates of pay = $28.54/hr.

July 1, 2028: Move from Phase 4/Step 5 to Phase 4/Step 6 = $29.11/hr.

My hourly rate increased $3.61 from January 1, 2025 to my anniversary date in 2028. The percentage increase from $25.50 to $29.11 is 14.16%. This is my expected increase in compensation over the term of the agreement. It is important to note that this is an example of an employee who received both increments in 2025 and 2026.

For those that did not receive increments, up to 4% will be provided as a lump sum, so your expected increase will be lower, however you will be eligible for lump-sum payments for 2025 and 2026, and potentially eligible for the Long-Service Increment (LSI) of 2% on top of your hourly rate, which would likely come into play for most people who are eligible, in 2028.

We strongly encourage you to attend today’s ratification meeting so you can hear the full explanation and have your questions answered directly before the voting window opens. If you have any questions following the meeting, or require any assistance with the vote and/or your electronic ballot, members of your Negotiations Committee will be available to provide further clarifications and/or assistance, where required. 

Sincerely,

Your CUPE 1975 Negotiations Committee

Dear CUPE member, 

By now, all members should have access to the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) between CUPE 1975 and USask, which was made available on Friday, February 20, 2026.

We can now advise the links to the CUPE 1975/USask MoS compensation page and from there, to your own individual employee statement on compensation, are now live on PAWS.

You can access this information by following the below link (once logged in to  your PAWs account):

https://paws2.usask.ca/mypayinfo/cupe-comp-model.php

Please note: Due to technical difficulties, you will need to access your Total Rewards statement on a desktop computer (not a mobile device) in order to view your proposed personalized compensation changes.

We encourage everyone to review the highlights page and your own individual statements in advance of the special meeting tomorrow at 2:30 PM. This meeting will be followed up by the ratification voting window which will go live at 4:00 PM tomorrow and remain in effect for 24 hours (with the voting scheduled to end on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 @ 4:00 PM).

We intend to go over the information provided through these links and in the MoS in greater detail during the meeting. We ask that if anyone has any general questions on the compensation figures and your employee compensation statement, that you reserve these for the meeting or after our presentation.

If you have any issues accessing the information, or believe any of the information provided is inaccurate, please do reach out to the local office and we can have someone assist you or redirect your concern to USask’s Compensation Team.

We hope to see you at the meeting where your Negotiating Committee will provide greater details on the MoS and on our recommendation seeking your approval of the tentative agreement. 

Sincerely,

Your CUPE 1975 Negotiating Committee

Alan Bohle

Ann Forget

Bryan Shain

Erwin Marbella

Jeff Theis

Will Bauer (CUPE Staff)

January 16, 2026

Dear Members,

Yesterday, we concluded another round of collective bargaining with the employer. The parties have now resolved most outstanding issues and just a few items remain on the table for discussion. Two of these items were surveyed as your top priorities: wages and benefits.

We remain committed to negotiating a meaningful wage increase for all members, including those whose wages have “maxxed out”. These members are unable to receive economic adjustments under Article 11.3 – Increments, and represent roughly 20-25% of the total membership. These members have not seen any increase in their wages since January 1, 2023. This, on top of generational increases to the cost-of-living of 10.5% over 2022/23 and another 4.2% over 2024/25, means all members’ purchasing power has eroded significantly since we last negotiated wages.

We have heard from many of you that you are facing financial challenges and having to make decisions on cutting not just your wants but needs. This is not acceptable.

Yesterday, we provided another comprehensive offer that could resolve collective bargaining. Our offer proposed meaningful wage increases for all that would address immediate financial concerns and be more in line with expected increases to the cost of living over the term of the agreement. We also communicated that we are at our “floor” and proposing any less would be unfair to our members and would likely not be ratified by the membership.

We will be back at the table next Tuesday, January 20 and Wednesday, January 21. We remain hopeful that the employer will be able to improve on their latest offer and resolve collective bargaining at the table.

Should the parties reach an impasse, we are mindful of and prepared for the processes triggered by essential services provisions in The Saskatchewan Employment Act. Should this happen, we will arrange meetings to share information on the process and discuss all available options that might help resolve collective bargaining at or away from the table.

It’s vitally important to hear from you, our members, about your working conditions and the priorities and direction of our union. If you wish to have us visit your workplace to provide an update at this critical moment, please contact your Area Representative or call us at the office at (306) 966-7015.

Our next General Membership Meeting is scheduled for January 27, 2026 at Louis’ Pub (Downstairs) beginning at 5:00 PM. Food and refreshments will be provided so please plan to attend and have a say in the direction of your union.

Our union’s strength comes from the collective – our community, our diversity, our solidarity.

Your Negotiating Committee,

Alan Bohle

Ann Forget

Bryan Shain

Erwin Marbella

Jeff Theis