MGEU sets March 25 strike deadline for three Indigenous CFS agencies

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A threatened strike at three agencies responsible for Indigenous child and family services will make things worse before they get better because the work is considered an essential service and reduced staff will be forced to carry a heavier load, one affected employee fears.

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This article was published 11/03/2025 (204 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A threatened strike at three agencies responsible for Indigenous child and family services will make things worse before they get better because the work is considered an essential service and reduced staff will be forced to carry a heavier load, one affected employee fears.

“It just compounds the already existing issues within the CFS system around high case loads, staff burnout, crisis response,” said the employee, who works for one of the agencies and did not want to be identified.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union issued a March 25 strike deadline Tuesday morning for workers at Southeast Child and Family Services, Michif Child and Family Services and Métis Child, Family and Community Services amid unsuccessful contract negotiations.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Kyle Ross, president of Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU), said reinstating laid-off workers will be part of the bargaining process.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES

Kyle Ross, president of Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU), said reinstating laid-off workers will be part of the bargaining process.

Agreements are in place to continue serving families and children considered at risk if there is a strike; the unionized employee said in the short term, those agreements will exacerbate the situation inside the agencies. And, longer term, without an adequate pay increase as part of a negotiated deal, staff will flee to agencies offering more competitive wages.

The Métis and Michif agencies have been without contracts since Jan. 31, 2023. At Southeast, employees have been without a contract since March 31, 2022.

Currently, a child-welfare worker with the province’s civil service earns between $32.96 and $46.87 per hour, while the equivalent workers at Southeast CFS get between $30.84 and $42.75 per hour. Métis CFS workers get between $31.42 and $43.56 per hour and Michif CFS earn $31.31 to $43.42 per hour.

The strike notice comes in the wake of layoff notices issued last week at the Métis and Michif child and family services agencies last week.

According to MGEU, 44 workers with Métis child and family services and 21 with Michif child and family services received layoff notices Thursday. The Southeast agency threatened downsizing Monday, the union said.

“At no time did the employers indicate that there was going to be layoffs,” MGEU president Kyle Ross said Tuesday. “It’s pretty frustrating. It feels like they’re beating up on these workers who provide a valued service for Manitobans.”

Ross said reinstating laid-off workers will be part of the bargaining process.

Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand said while the province secured funds to to increase staff salary levels for positions that currently focus on apprehension so they are comparable with non-Indigenous agencies, it still has no funding for prevention-focused staff or programming.

“We understand why our skilled and dedicated workers have chosen to stand up and fight for our families with the provincial government – we stand with them,” Chartrand said in an email statement. “We need both the provincial and federal governments to immediately end their jurisdictional battle, which has caused this dangerous situation to occur.”

Southeast CFS executive director Rhonda Kelly did not respond to a Free Press request for comment.

The federally and provincially funded child-welfare agency serves eight First Nations in southeast Manitoba: Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Black River First Nation, Hollow Water First Nation, Bloodvein First Nation, Berens River First Nation, Poplar River First Nation, Little Grand Rapids First Nation and Pauingassi First Nation.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine told reporters the province has already injected an additional $11.3 million into operations for operations across all CFS agencies. The Métis and Michif agencies’ share is $2.4 million. Southeast received $898,000.

Fontaine said children in care need to be prioritized during negotiations.

“I’m encouraging folks… to get back to that bargaining table, to have those conversations and to do what’s in the best interest of children,” she said after question period Tuesday.

Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth Sherry Gott said hundreds — if not thousands — of children, youth and families could be impacted by a strike.

“We must remember that children are at the core of this, and it is absolutely imperative that their unique rights are prioritized and met,” Gott said in a statement.

Ross said while no negotiations are scheduled, the union will be ready to go back to the bargaining table when called to do so.

— With files from Carol Sanders and Kevin Rollason

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

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