‘It’s a head-scratcher for sure:’ SFL president on possible 6.8% MLA pay raises

Inflation is all the rage these days and the salaries of Saskatchewan MLAs are slated to be inflated next month.

Even though there an increase to their salaries is expected, everyone’s wondering how much the increase will actually be.

Unlike those in many professions, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is factored into the salary increase formula for MLAs. According to Statistics Canada, the CPI rose 6.8 per cent on an annual average basis in 2022.

However, both the premier and the leader of the Official Opposition have declined to accept the full scheduled pay raise and have agreed the increase is too high.

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) president Lori Johb told reporters Tuesday it doesn’t make sense for the government to even consider a 6.8 per cent wage increase when most workers only see raises of around one or two per cent.

“It’s a head-scratcher for sure. I hope that when workers are at the bargaining table now, they’re paying attention to this,” she said.

“I believe that everybody should be making more money, but (MLAs) can’t give (themselves) a big raise and then not be able to do the same thing for people who’ve been providing services across the province for a very long time, especially through the pandemic.”

Johb added she doesn’t believe the CPI should be baked into salary increases and feels there are many questions that need to be answered.

“Does that mean it’s going to go down if the CPI goes down? Are their paycheques all of a sudden going to get lower?” she said. “It’s need to be fair … Whatever they’re accepting for themselves, they need to accept at least that much for the people (who) are working for this province.”

The SFL president said she doesn’t want to put any numbers on the table with regards to upcoming contract negotiations between the province and unionized workers.

“I know it needs to be more. I myself am a health care worker. I worked in the field for over 30 years and I never saw anything beyond two per cent that whole time,” she said.

“We talk a lot about (a) worker shortage and labour shortages. Well, seriously, we have a wage shortage and I think that once we start recognizing and paying workers what they’re worth, then I think we can talk about leaders and what they’re making.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick