Civil service vacancies alarming: union

One of Manitoba’s largest unions is raising concerns about civil service vacancies as the province’s budget day nears.

Saying one in every five positions have been left unfilled, the union has flagged shortages in wildfire services, corrections, snow plow operations and information technology, among other sectors.

“Our workers are continually doing more with less,” said Kyle Ross, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union.

There has been a roughly 2,300-person drop in Manitoba’s civil service since 2016, the union says. The province’s population has jumped from 1.27 million people to 1.5 million during the same time frame.

A union advertising campaign — on podcasts, social media, buses and billboards — depicts lonely seniors and potholes. It says the civil service vacancy rate is near 20 per cent.

“It’s important to get our voice out there,” Ross said. “(Our workers) often tell us they’re doing the job of two to three people.”

The Manitoba government’s own vacancy count stands at 15.9 per cent as of Jan. 31.

Corrections staff have declined nine per cent from 2020-21 through 2025-26 while the number of inmates has risen by 50 per cent, the union outlined in a draft pre-budget submission to the province.

It noted a 33 per cent vacancy rate in Manitoba’s innovation department, which is less than two years old. A gap of 60 operators in the province’s transportation branch strains snow plow operations, the union said.

Ross pointed to traffic court as a sign of vacancies affecting Manitobans: the hours for people to pay or dispute tickets were cut short three days a week last year due to low staffing.

“I will give the government some credit — it is improving,” Ross said of overall vacancies. “But it’s slow, and our workers, in the meantime, are burning out.

“As people leave, that knowledge is walking out the door.”

The union noted in its pre-budget submission that Manitoba’s civil service dropped to about 12,000 in 2020 from 15,000 in 2016. The count steadied before dropping further to under 12,000 people in 2023.

(The MGEU launched an advertising campaign in 2017 accusing then-premier Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government of cutting public services.)

Civil service numbers have increased following the 2023 election of the New Democrats. The province counted 12,432 staff as of Jan. 31, a spokesperson said.

Finance Minister Adrien Sala cited a 23.2 per cent vacancy rate in the core public service when his party took power “after years of cuts and hiring freezes.”

“Our focus remains on maintaining public services, rebuilding health care, addressing affordability pressures and making communities safer,” Sala said in a statement.

The budget will be unveiled March 24.

Manitoba has actively recruited “priority positions” and front-line service staff, Sala said. He said the NDP have been rebuilding government capacity.

The PCs did not respond to an interview request by end of day Monday.

Ross registered to lobby the NDP government on labour shortages last October. The union launched a similar campaign last April.

Despite a common conception of unions being in “lockstep” with the NDP, ad campaigns against party aren’t unheard of, one political expert says.

“It’s likely a good time for the (Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union) to be expressing itself,” said Christopher Adams, a University of Manitoba adjunct professor of political science, noting the upcoming budget.

The campaign is a way for the union to show members it’s active, he said.

The NDP has promised to balance the budget by 2027 but it also projects a deficit of $1.6 billion for the fiscal year, a near doubling of the $794 million estimated in last spring’s budget.

“They probably aren’t going to do a lot of filling in empty spots in the public sector,” Adams said. “Except… health care. I think health care continues to be a priority that needs some remedial answer.”

Premier Wab Kinew remains one of Canada’s most popular premiers, and an election isn’t looming; this gives the New Democrats “some wiggle room,” Adams said.

The union plans to run its advertising campaign into the spring, ending in April or May, Ross said. The union represents roughly 12, 500 civil servants and 33,000 members total, including in health care and social services.

Its pre-budget document calls for the provincial government to make a civil service hiring plan.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com