Saskatoon healthcare workers launch petition for safer parking
The Service Employees International Union West (SEIU-West), which represents some Saskatoon healthcare workers, has launched a petition calling for safer parking.
“They want safe parking, they want well-lit parking, they want accessible parking,” said SEIU’s president Barbara Cape. “We want to partner with every single health care worker who's affected by this.”
In December, a healthcare worker was assaulted blocks away from RUH on her way to work.
Cape says many workers at Saskatoon’s hospitals and health care facilities have to park in residential areas. The union has concerns because many areas are not well lit, especially when employees get off late or head in for an early shift.
“Can't we work together to find a park and ride or a shuttle system that makes it just a little bit safer to make it from your car to your workplace so that you can provide care?”
The petition is open to all healthcare workers — including doctors, registered nurses and pharmacists, says Cape.
“We're going to talk with the Health Authority, we're going to talk with the (provincial) government, we're going to talk with the city we're going to talk with transit, because, this is not an insurmountable problem. We just need to have some political will to get it done,” she said.
The petition has over 300 signatures so far.
In response to the launch of the petition, Health Minister Paul Merriman says his ministry is looking at security issues at Saskatchewan’s hospitals.
“We’ve had some issues there, specifically at the University Hospital, also at the General Hospital in Regina and at St. Paul’s,” said Merriman.
“We’re continuing to look at, and making sure security is there and is available,” he said. “We do want to make sure our staff is safe coming to and going to the hospital(s).”
Currently, the petition only includes Saskatoon, but Cape says it could up to Moose Jaw and other locations that have expressed similar concerns.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
These foods cost more in Canada, despite inflation rate slowdown
Overall inflation in Canada is cooling, according to just-released data, but the trend is not being reflected at grocery stores, where prices for some items continue to grow.

Plastics at all stages detrimental to human health, analysis finds
A collaborative new report has detailed the wide-ranging health impacts of plastics, right from their production all the way to their use and eventual disposal.
Trudeau's chief of staff Telford will testify about foreign interference: PMO
After weeks of resistance, and ahead of a vote that could have compelled it to happen, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office announced Tuesday that his chief of staff Katie Telford will testify about foreign election interference, before a committee that has been studying the issue for months.
Adviser on unmarked graves says some landowners are refusing access for searches
Some private landowners are refusing access to residential school survivors who are looking to perform ceremony or search their properties for possible unmarked graves, a Senate committee heard Tuesday.
Johnston's mandate as special rapporteur on foreign interference has been released
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has released foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's mandate, which instructs the former governor general to determine by May 23 whether a public inquiry is necessary.
Kitchen renovation unearths paintings nearly 400 years old
Murals believed to be nearly 400 years old have been discovered at an apartment in northern England following a kitchen renovation.
Def Leppard drummer recovering from attack outside hotel
Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen says he recovering from an attack earlier this month outside a Florida hotel.
Ontario man fails driving test, almost hits 4 people with vehicle before doing burnouts in parking lot: police
Police in Guelph, Ont. have charged a man who they say failed a driving test before driving off and nearly hitting four people with his vehicle and then deciding to do burnouts in a parking lot.
Student charged with attempted murder in stabbings at Halifax-area high school
A 15-year-old is facing a number of charges, including attempted murder, after two staff members were stabbed at a high school in Bedford, N.S., Monday morning.