MPI strike to continue after workers vote down contract offer

By: Free Press staff Posted: 9:16 AM CDT Monday, Oct. 30, 2023 Last Modified: 11:29 AM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023 | Updates

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Manitoba Public Insurance workers voted Monday to reject a proposed new contract, pushing their strike into a 10th week.

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Manitoba Public Insurance workers voted Monday to reject a proposed new contract, pushing their strike into a 10th week.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/10/2023 (734 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Public Insurance workers voted Monday to reject a proposed new contract, pushing their strike into a 10th week.

The latest offer was “overwhelmingly rejected” and picketing will resume Tuesday, the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union stated in an evening news release.

“We always wanted our members to vote on their next contract, and today they did just that,” MGEU president Kyle Ross said in the release. “Our members have spoken and after nine weeks on the picket line, they are standing firm in their fight for fairness.”

An MGEU picket line of a few hundred people marches around the Manitoba Legislative Building Tuesday morning. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

The union wants to get back to the bargaining table as soon as possible, Ross added.

“There has been a disconnect between the new (NDP) government’s messages of support for our members and what we have seen from the employer at the bargaining table,” he stated. “Let’s get back to the table and negotiate a contract that provides fair wages for members and gets them back to work helping Manitobans.”

Voting closed at 6 p.m.; the results were announced about 40 minutes later.

The MGEU, which represents about 1,700 MPI workers, said the offer included wage increases of 12.2 per cent over four years, retroactively. The increase for 2022 and 2023 is 3 per cent, with a 2.9 per cent increase in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025.

Earlier Monday, Premier Wab Kinew said he would reserve comment until after the results are made public.

“I want to respect the vote, which is happening as we speak,” Kinew said. “I’d be happy to offer comment once the voting is concluded and we have an indication of how that went.”

The union previously stated the employer’s offer had improved to the point it could be put to a vote, but Ross stated he was still disappointed in it.

More than 60 per cent of members would have received an additional 3.5 per cent wage increase over the contract from a new maximum increment step for each pay grade, the MGEU said.

MGEU members walk a picket line outside the Manitoba Legislative Building on Tuesday. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

The offer also included a one-time signing bonus of $1,800 per full-time employee. For part-time staff, that amount would have been pro-rated.

MPI and MGEU representatives met with a conciliator Oct. 26 for the first time since NDP cabinet minister Matt Wiebe overhauled the Crown corporation’s board of directors Oct. 20.

“While reaching an agreement is the ultimate goal, we understand that this vote by the membership is part of the process. MPI is committed to getting back to the table as soon as possible,” Wiebe said in a statement sent Tuesday morning.

“Our government promised to balance the books and make life better for working people. We are committed to reaching a deal that is fair for workers, reasonable for ratepayers and keeps us on track to achieve balance within our first term.”