City union files grievance over downtown library hub

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This article was published 07/02/2025 (211 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A key city union has filed a grievance that says the municipal government’s switch to a new service provider for Millennium Library’s social service hub will violate its collective agreement.

The City of Winnipeg’s 2025 budget cut funding for the community connections space at the flagship library, where library employees and community safety hosts had helped connect vulnerable people with social supports.

The budget cut led the space to shut down on Dec. 31. City council later approved a call to let Downtown Community Safety Partnership move into the site, to offer similar services through a pilot project from April 1 to May 31, which may later be extended.

In an email obtained by the Free Press, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 says the replacement program amounts to “a clear violation of provisions within our collective agreement and Labour Relations Act.” The grievance was filed Friday.

“The Downtown Community Safety Partnership intends to utilize the same space for a core team of outreach workers, performing the same casework and support services that CUPE 500 members previously provided,” states the letter from Gord Delbridge, president of CUPE Local 500.

While CUPE hopes to address its concerns through dialogue with the city, Delbridge wrote the union will otherwise have “no choice but to take the necessary legal steps to address these violations.”

In an interview, Delbridge declined to share details about further actions the union could take, though he noted it could file complaints with the labour board or an arbitrator.

“If an employer feels that they want to eliminate their unionized workforce by bringing in contract workers instead, that could be seen as a violation of… constitutional rights,” he said.

Delbridge said there was a widespread consensus that the original program was a success. Past city reports have credited it with helping to connect people in need with food, clothing and addictions supports, preventing some emergency service calls and de-escalating safety threats.

Delbridge said CUPE members who had regularly worked at the community connections space were transferred to other city positions when it closed.

During the budget process, the city estimated restoring the original community connections program for one year would have cost roughly $628,000, with about four full-time library staff positions devoted to the work, along with community safety hosts.

The city’s communications director said CUPE filed a grievance over the matter on Friday.

“The city will be responding to the grievance in accordance with the steps outlined in the collective agreement,” wrote Felicia Wiltshire, in an email.

Wiltshire noted funding is no longer available for the previous program.

Mayor Scott Gillingham spoke in favour of having DCSP base some of its community outreach workers in the space, noting that would have no additional cost for the city.

Gillingham was not available for an interview Friday, though his office provided a written statement.

“Unions raising concerns about work arrangements is standard, and there’s a process in place to address them. It’s worth noting the 2025 budget includes 10 additional (full-time equivalent staff positions) for library services because we’ve added hours and are opening another location. The Downtown Community Safety Partnership will continue providing the same services they already offer, just in an additional location, and they already have a significant presence in the library,” wrote spokesman Colin Fast.

Coun. Vivian Santos, chair of the community services committee, declined to weigh in directly on the union’s complaint.

Santos (Point Douglas) said the four full-time staff positions devoted to the previous community connections space were “temporary,” with funding only approved up to the end of 2024.

She said DCSP’s staff provide valuable outreach efforts.

“They will assist anybody in encampments or (help) if businesses need assistance with somebody dealing with a mental health crisis, so they don’t have to call 911… They can help with de-escalation,” said Santos.

Coun. Sherri Rollins, who supported the original community connections program, said she received hundreds of complaints following its closure.

Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) noted the DCSP proposal was shared with the public with little notice during an unscheduled presentation that the executive policy committee suspended its rules to hear.

“I’m not surprised to see this letter. I don’t think (the city decision) was well thought out. I don’t think the homework was done because it was… a knee-jerk reaction that we’ll be experiencing the impacts (from) as we go on here,” she said.

Rollins declined to weigh in on the union’s specific claims.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

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