SEIU-West says, Canadian Blood Services is proceeding with its plan to slash mobile blood-collecting clinics across rural Saskatchewan.
Union President Barbara Cape says, “CBS was begging for blood donations in Saskatchewan before Christmas. Specifically, they were asking for more than 1,400 people in the province to fill open appointments within just a few weeks.” Cape says they are now apparently only looking for blood from city-dwellers.
The union says CBS has not provided a satisfactory or logical reason for discontinuing many of its rural mobile collection clinics.
Cape says, “We know it’s not about resources, because they’ve got plenty.” She says, “According to CBS’s 2020 annual report, they concluded that fiscal year with net assets, including cash on hand, of a quarter of a billion dollars.”

“We know CBS has the staff ready, willing and able to work the rural mobile clinics because these are our members,” Cape continues. “So if they have the cash, the equipment and the workers to run the clinics, what exactly is the real reason for denying Saskatchewan people in these small cities and towns this service?”
SEIU-West members employed with CBS in Saskatchewan staff the mobile clinic operations, as well as, the day-to-day operations in Regina and Saskatoon donor clinics in respect to phlebotomy, transport, scheduling of appointments, and data entry, among other duties.
“As these cuts are announced our members have been experiencing a steady decrease in their hours of work and income; our members are facing a real lack of stability as a result of these changes,” states Cape. “We really do need strong advocacy from all donors to vocalize the concerns of those who live in these rural communities or access to these cherished opportunities to give will be lost.”
SEIU-West says it is launching an email campaign to give donors the opportunity to share their concerns with CBS.