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Main issues in the CEP 481/SGEU dispute:

We are facing concession bargaining and a deficit of trade-union principles. As a union, SGEU rightly denounces employers when they demand concessions at the bargaining table. But as an employer itself, SGEU is asking employees to give up a long-standing benefit and is offering no offset in return. SGEU's commitment to workers' rights is measured by its treatment of the people it employs. Specifically: *Sick leave. Right now, SGEU staff (members of CEP 481) have a model sick-leave program. It is better than most sick-leave plans enjoyed by SGEU members, and we make no apologies for that. When it was put in place more than 25 years ago, both SGEU and its staff agreed to its provisions. Rather than attack the program for its comprehensive protection of ill and disabled workers, SGEU should be using its staff's sick-leave program as a model when it goes to the bargaining table with the Government of Saskatchewan, Workers' Compensation Board, SIAST, and other employers. *Wages. SGEU is offering 0%, 1%, and 1% as wage increases over the same three-year period when most SGEU members received a total increase of 6.75%. SGEU's offer does not even match the cost of living, which has been increasing at between 2-3% in each of those same years.