MPI instructs strikers on how to cross picket line

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This article was published 15/09/2023 (775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Public Insurance has sent out letters with information on how to cross the picket line to striking staff, with the union representing them decrying the move as divisive and desperate.

The letter, dated Thursday, suggests any of the 1,700 workers on strike who want to return to work should reach out to MPI’s human resources department via an included email address.

The letter suggests those on strike should discuss the potential impact of crossing the picket line with their Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union representative and mentions pay information along with a confirmation that the Crown corporation has agreed to the MGEU’s request to bring in a conciliator to help with negotiations.

The letter wasn’t sent to encourage striking staff to return to work, rather it was to answer questions received by management about coming back to work, MPI board chair Ward Keith said Friday.

“It really was not intended in any way to create mischief for the MGEU or its members. I can tell you, with respect to returning to work, since the strike action began, MPI managers have been contacted by numerous employees, dozens of employees, expressing interest in coming back to work,” he said.

“MPI managers have been contacted by numerous employees, dozens of employees, expressing interest in coming back to work.”–Ward Keith, MPI

A centralized email address was created to track inquiries and triage some employees to units where resources are most required should they reach out to the public insurer, he said.

“If a decision is made to bring them back to the workplace, then there needs to be a process for figuring out how best to utilize their services, and that’s what this is about. It was not intended to ask people to leave the strike line or ask people to cross the picket line, it was simply to respond to inquiries that had been received,” Keith said.

No striking workers have returned to work so far, but Keith said that was because MPI had not been prepared to consider that before now.

‘Desperate move’: union

MGEU held a rally near the Gateway MPI service centre Friday morning to bolster solidarity and encourage picketers to “stand strong with their members,” MGEU president Kyle Ross said.

Some workers are receiving intimidating text messages from MPI management to the same effect, Ross said.

“Coming from a manager to a worker, that’s really a bully tactic … there’s a power imbalance.”–Kyle Ross, MGEU

“Coming from a manager to a worker, that’s really a bully tactic … there’s a power imbalance,” Ross said at the rally.

“It’s a really, really desperate move by the employer. I don’t understand it. It’d be much easier just to bargain a deal at the table, but they seem to have keep refusing to do that.”

One striking MPI worker from the operations department said receiving the letter from MPI felt like a “slap in the face.”

“As a member, getting that letter, felt like I was easily replaceable, even though I’ve done so much for this company that I do love working for,” he said.

The MGEU’s constitution requires that any member who crosses the picket line to do work contrary to the strike plan must pay a “dues rate” of 30 per cent of their gross pay, on top of the regular dues rate of 1.25 per cent.

The union offers strike pay of $1,000 bi-weekly for 40 hours of picket duty, which is non-taxable and exempt from union dues.

MPI letter to employees

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.

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