CUPE Saskatchewan has had a busy year working with members from across the province and helping them get out in the community.
That includes a series of Community BBQs to spread awareness of what they do across the province, including one in Estevan last week.
CUPE Saskatchewan President Kent Peterson said they've also been busy in other sectors over the summer.
"It's not the only thing we do, of course. We do lots of stuff, so we provide union education for our members and education that helps them in their work and in their union work. But we also do advocacy for public services, so we talked with municipal councillors and mayors, and we talked with MLAs and other politicians."
"Anyone who wants to have conversations about how we can better respect public service workers, better fund public services, and make sure that the services that people need like healthcare, education, and municipal services are actually there for Saskatchewan people when and where they need them. "
Peterson says that CUPE Saskatchewan has a busy year ahead of them with plenty of work in the province.
"After summer here, we'll go into fall and of course, we have our own regularly scheduled programming, various meetings, and conferences that we do, but we've got some important things happening this fall. Chief among them here in Saskatchewan, we've got municipal school board and provincial elections all happening this fall, and we pay close attention to those elections."
"Politicians are the folks who ultimately decide the working conditions of our Members and the types of public services that are offered. So we do a lot of outreach work with our members, encouraging them to read up on various politicians, platforms, and policies and encourage them to vote and we try and do that across the province, because we've got over 30,000 members, we're the largest union in Saskatchewan and so that means we have to be everywhere all the time."
Peterson says he hopes to see conditions improve for all workers in the province this year.
"I think it'll be certainly important work but also rewarding. Our Members and a lot of places across the province, no matter what sector they work in, are fed up in a lot of cases with politicians. I mean, they're feeling the cost of living pinch just like everybody else is feeling it. Wages have been stagnant for many, many years."
I mean, a lot of these folks would have taken zeros at the bargaining table or 1 percent, which was already behind inflation and everyone has seen in the last two or three years, the cost of gas and groceries and rent and mortgages and everything else go up."
"Our Members are feeling that too, and so they're fed up with the way things are and so I think politicians should take note of that because these folks are motivated to vote and they'll be making sure that their voice is heard and we'll be there to facilitate that.