Correctional institution nurses added to provincial incentives plan

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This article was published 28/03/2023 (942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Civil sector nurses will receive retroactive bonuses and incentives after initially being left out of the Progressive Conservative government’s $200-million plan to retain health-care workers.

Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union president Kyle Ross said Tuesday an agreement has been reached with the province to provide correctional institution nurses and 42 others at the Manitoba Development Centre the incentives and perks offered to peers in the health sector.

“We argued that these incentives were vital to address acute shortages and that public service nurses deserve the very same consideration and respect as their counterparts in the heath sector,” Ross said in a statement to union members.

Under the newly inked agreement, nurses represented by MGEU will receive an hourly weekend premium of $8 retroactive to Nov. 18, 2022; a $10,000 recruitment and retention incentive paid over two years; a $10,000 incentive for nurses who have a full-time equivalent position; wellness incentives; licensure reimbursement, and more.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon first announced the health human resources action plan in mid-November, which included a suite of bonuses in a bid to keep nurses employed in the public health system.

However, nurses working in the civil service were not included in the action plan. The MGEU advocated for its nurse members to be offered the same deal.

The union argued it would be difficult for the province to recruit and retain nurses to work in Manitoba jails on an uneven playing field and warned of an exodus to regional health authorities.

The government’s correctional facilities are also short-staffed when it comes to nurses, according to the MGEU.

The matter was taken to the province’s workforce relations division and following negotiations a memorandum of agreement was signed March 23.

“The employer has told us it will do everything possible to expedite retroactive payments for the weekend super premium,” Ross said, noting it could take up to 12 weeks for payments to be processed.

A government spokesperson said: “Our intention was always to extend the investments being made for nurses working within Manitoba’s health-care system to nurses working directly within government. We are pleased that our collaborative work with MGEU has now secured a similar package of incentives, as part of our ongoing commitment to retain, train and recruit the dedicated health-care professionals all of us rely on.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca