MPI workers prepare to follow liquor staff by going on strike

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/08/2023 (751 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The list of public servants disgruntled by the Manitoba government’s wage offer has grown to include employees at Manitoba Public Insurance.

Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union members at the public insurer have voted in favour of strike action after overwhelmingly rejecting the employer’s wage offer.

The votes were counted Thursday after union members across the province began voting on the government’s latest offer last week.

While no official strike date has been set, the union said it is preparing for a walkout.

“The MGEU will be requesting that the employer return to the bargaining table as soon as possible in an effort to negotiate a settlement to avert any job action,” MGEU president Kyle Ross said Friday.

A strike by MPI workers would affect the Crown corporation’s call centre, the processing of claims and ability to issue drivers licences — “everything related to driver insurance and driver licensing,” Ross said.

Their contract expired Sept. 26, 2022.

The union said MPI has offered a 2.0 per cent annual wage increase, the same deal offered to striking Liquor and Lotteries workers, a result of the provincial government’s “restrictive” wage mandate, Ross said.

MGEU represents approximately 1,700 members at MPI locations across the province.

An MPI spokesperson said the corporation looks forward to continuing negotiations.

“At this time, there are no impacts to the organization’s operations, programs, or services,” the spokesperson said in an email.

“The corporation is encouraged that the MGEU has expressed interest in returning to the bargaining table and MPI is committed to exploring opportunities to fairly resolve the new collective agreement as soon as possible to avoid disruptions to our employees, customers, and Manitobans.”

Workers at the provincial liquor Crown corporation have been involved in job action since mid-July.

Both sides met Friday to continue negotiations that are at an impasse. MGEU said the hours-long discussion was “constructive.”

“We know that the corporation issued a statement during the negotiation session reiterating its refusal to even talk about wages, but we remain hopeful that the government and the corporation will reconsider,” an MGEU spokesperson said.

An update from MLL accused the union of dragging out strike action and said there was no movement on either side on wage increases.

“Sooner or later, fair and binding arbitration is the established pathway to resolve difficult strikes when the parties are deadlocked,” said MLL president and CEO Gerry Sul in a statement.

Managers are working at the few retail liquor outlets that remain open, while replacement workers hired by Winnipeg firm Covert Logistics have been hired to ship products from the corporation’s large distribution centre on King Edward Street.

Business was hopping Friday at stores that were open. At the Eastwinds Liquor Mart at 1530 Regent Ave. W — currently only open to commercial customers — business owners from across the province lined up to stock up on product.

On Friday afternoon, MLL staff were posted outside the store to ensure customers had a business licence. About a dozen people who wanted to buy booze were turned away in a 30-minute period after being told the store was only open to commercial sellers.

One staff member said customers had lined up three hours before the Liquor Mart opened, and said the shelves had been“ravaged.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

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Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.