Union demands Manitoba government go on hiring spree

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This article was published 14/06/2023 (892 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s civil service has been depleted and demoralized after years of job cuts and attrition under the progressive Conservatives, says a report by their union.

“The cuts of the past seven years have resulted in a staffing crisis,” said Kyle Ross, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union at a news conference Wednesday to release “State of the Civil Service 2023 – Cuts and privatization catching up with Manitoba’s public services.”

“Manitobans are waiting longer and getting less,” Ross said. He was flanked by MGEU leaders against a backdrop with the slogan “Catch up, keep up.”

The 22-page report says there are 2,300 fewer civil servants now than in 2015.

Vacancy rates in many government departments hover “dangerously high” — between 20 and 30 per cent — with the health department reporting a 42 per cent vacancy rate in 2022, it says.

When the Tories formed government in 2016, then-premier Brian Pallister vowed to balance the budget and reduce the size of the civil service, which numbered 14,876. It decreased each consecutive year until there were 12,232 in 2021 — a reduction of 2,644 positions (nearly 18 per cent).

In 2017, the Tories passed the Public Services Sustainability Act to curb the deficit by capping wage increases at zero per cent for two years, followed by annual raises of 0.75 per cent and one per cent. The Tories didn’t enact the law but used it to try to get unions to settle for a wage freeze.

In 2022, nearly a year after Heather Stefanson replaced Pallister as premier and promised a more collaborative approach, the number of civil servants increased by 282 positions to 12,514, a two per cent increase from the previous year, and the first growth in seven years.

“As much as we hoped we’d have a better relationship with government… we have not seen that,” said Ross, noting new hires are not even close to filling the gaps. “We have not had the opportunity to have meaningful discussions with government.”

Civil service staffing levels for the 2022-23 fiscal year will be unveiled in an annual civil service commission report that will be tabled after a new legislative session begins.

Staffing shortages have reduced the level of service in vital statistics, health protection, and the Office of Drinking Water, the MGEU report says.

Employee morale has declined since 2017, with 54 per cent of civil servants reporting morale has worsened over the past two years. Correctional officers’ claims for psychological injury resulting from challenging working conditions and short staffing have more than doubled, to 83 in 2021 from 39 in 2018.

The Stefanson government’s first throne speech in 2021 said Manitobans are well served by civil servants and public-sector workers but “too often their contributions are taken for granted.”

It said they’re “critical” to the government’s ability to implement its priorities, and that it “will recruit and retain the best possible talent to continue to serve Manitoba.”

Public servants are waiting to see the government “put in the work to hire people,” Ross said.

“We’re not an employer of choice right now. They’re struggling to recruit and retain,” he said, noting many competitions for public service jobs are unfilled.

The union president called on the government to understand why there is a job vacancy problem and solve it.

The report concludes by calling on the Stefanson government to reverse course with better pay and funding for services.

Ross said the timing of the report’s release and the union’s “Catch up, keep up” slogan have nothing to do with the Oct. 3 election that polls suggest the Tories are likely to lose.

“We’re a non-partisan union but we’re still political and our members are affected by government so we have to get in those spaces and talk about what’s affecting our members,” he said.

The government said Wednesday evening the size of “core government” had decreased primarily through “natural attrition” and 900 public servants were moved to Shared Health last year. “Our government is implementing recruitment strategies to address employment needs, focusing on key changes to advance innovation and the modernization of the public service.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca