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Negotiations have begun between the province's health regions and health unions as agreements are set to expire in the near future.

As part of the Essential Services Act that went into effect back in 2008, both parties are required to begin negotiations 90 days prior to the existing deal expiring. The Cypress Health Region is among those that making their way to the bargaining table.

"If we don't get agreement within the 90 days and the contracts do expire then the employer does have the ability to designate the employees by name," says Executive Director of Human Resources, Brenda Schwan.

At this point, it's unclear what the primary issues to be discussed will be as they are still in the early stages of the process. "We haven't actually got into the full details of what the plans are. It's more just working right now with the unions provincially to understand how these negotiations will take place and in what form," Schwan says.

The current agreement between Cypress Health, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, and SEIU is set to expire on March 31st.

Brenda Schwan talks about the upcoming negotiation process...