Tories, MGEU clash on summer labour war’s third, largest front

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This article was published 31/08/2023 (781 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The union representing more than 11,000 provincial civil servants is recommending they reject the Manitoba government’s latest proposal and provide a strike mandate in the coming weeks.

General wage increases remain a sticking point, after the province presented a revised four-year contract offer during talks Thursday.

In a news release, the province said it offered a “significantly enhanced” and guaranteed total monetary package of a 16.2 per cent increase over four years.

It said the offer includes a direct path to binding arbitration to resolve a dispute over wage increases.

“Manitobans expect a balanced approach, based on fairness for our employees and all taxpayers, while doing what can reasonably be done to avoid a potential service disruption for everyone,” the province wrote in the news release. “This approach has no downside for our valuable employees and would lock in significant and immediate gains as binding arbitration is pursued, while avoiding any of the income loss and larger disruption of a strike.”

The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union said the government made some improvements in its revised offer, but there were no wage increases.

The province continued to offer hikes of two per cent in each of the four years to most employees.

“Here we are again with the same offer for another group of MGEU members,” union president Kyle Ross said in a news release. “Working Manitobans know that two per cent is just not enough to keep up with the soaring cost of everything.”

Members are expected to vote in late September and early October.

The province said the 16.2 per cent package contains the eight per cent general wage increase over four years with final amounts to be finalized through binding arbitration, 2.5 per cent for a special adjustments fund, an average 2.7 per cent “signing bonus” for full-time staff (equivalent to $1,800 for full-time workers and $900 for part-time employees), 2.5 per cent in benefit improvements and 0.5 per cent in additional targeted premiums and allowances.

The MGEU said the province increased its proposed one-time, lump sum bonus from $800 to $1,800 for full-time staff and from $480 to $900 for part-timers.

Other changes include an increase to the special adjustment fund for select classifications from 0.75 per cent to 2.5 per cent, and two wellness days per year to be taken from a sick leave bank.

The union said it ‘s concerned the offer allows the province to carry out comprehensive classification restructuring without meaningful protections for current classifications and pay.

“Once again, we see this government trying to mislead members and Manitobans about their offer with creative math,” said Ross. “Our members understand their collective agreement and they know that the offer isn’t close to what the government claims. They want wage increases that help all of them keep up with the rising cost of living.”

The government described it as a “fair” offer, while accusing the MGEU’s demands of being “well in excess” of settlements reached across the provincial public sector.

It is similar to the offer presented to striking Manitoba Public Insurance staff.

The union said the province’s offer falls short of the increases Premier Heather Stefanson and other MLAs gave themselves.

MLAs received a 3.3 per cent wage hike this year, and are projected to have increases of 3.6 per cent in 2024 and in 2025.

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The potential job action by civil servants is the latest labour dispute between the MGEU and Tory government.

About 1,700 MPI workers went on strike Monday calling for better wages. The walkout began a day after a weeks-long strike by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries workers came to an end, when members accepted wage increases of about 12 per cent or higher over four years.

The labour disruptions have come just weeks prior to the Oct. 3 provincial election.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris 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.