Throne Speech Response, CUPE Manitoba President Gina McKay

CUPE Manitoba President Gina McKay offers the following response to today’s Manitoba Throne Speech:

Today’s Throne Speech was a disappointment. Not only did the government fail to introduce the concrete measures that are needed to improve health care, they are making things worse by prioritizing the privatization of Manitoba’s public services. 

The government wants to convince Manitobans that by expanding private delivery of diagnostic testing and surgeries that they can speed up wait times, but this simply isn’t true. There isn’t an untapped source of health care professionals waiting to operate these private clinics. If there was, they would be hired already. Any capacity added by private clinics will come at the expense of public operations.

There was absolutely nothing in today’s throne speech about investments’ in our public education system. After years of struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic, students and education workers were looking for real commitments to improve our schools. But the message from Premier Stefanson was clear – students, teachers, and education workers are on their own.

There was discussion of new jobs, but a focus on private business investments and private sector opportunities was at the core of each announcement. We need the Manitoba government to commit to, and invest in, public service workers in all public sector work – including those noted today in the Throne Speech: libraries, schools, health care, child care, and social services.

It is crucial for the Manitoba government to ensure services are publicly funded, and not through private sector contributions that have returns on their investments. There should never be corporate monetary returns on public service work. 

This was a concerning Throne Speech from a tired government that’s run out of ideas and is gearing up to line the pockets of private investors. If anything, the pandemic should have taught us the value of our public services. But this government has a neoliberal agenda that looks for profits before quality health care, education, and public services. 

Manitoba’s public services are not for sale, and CUPE members in our province work for Manitoba. The 2023 election cannot come soon enough.

CUPE welcomes newest members at Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad Inc. (Ndinawe)

WINNIPEG, TREATY 1 – Staff at Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad Inc. (Ndinawe) voted overwhelmingly to join CUPE, Canada’s largest union.

Ndinawe is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping at-risk youth in Winnipeg.

“We are very pleased to welcome the staff at Ndinawe into CUPE,” said Gina McKay, CUPE Manitoba President. “The staff at Ndinawe are known for their compassion and tireless efforts for our community’s youth, and CUPE is proud to unite with these workers to help improve their own working environment.”

CUPE welcomes approximately 50 staff at Ndinawe, including Arts Coordinators, Educational Assistants, Cooks, Youth Care Workers, Case Managers, Food Services Coordinators, Peer Mentors, Program Facilitators, Transitional Support Workers, Housing Coordinators, Systems Navigators, Wellness Coordinators, Youth Support Workers, Cleaners, and Intake Workers.

The Manitoba Labour Board issued the new certificate on May 18, 2022. The next step for the new CUPE members is to elect a local executive and a bargaining committee to begin bargaining their first contract.

“Joining CUPE is a big step towards achieving fairness in the workplace,” said McKay. “CUPE prides itself on negotiating the strongest contracts for our members, and we commit to doing the same for staff at Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad Inc.”

Manitoba Budget Continues to Fall Short

WINNIPEG – The 2022 Manitoba budget continues to put public services at risk, says CUPE Manitoba.

“Manitobans expect to see a budget that protects the public services they rely on,” says
Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba.  “This government continues to cut taxes for ideological reasons rather than fully supporting our schools and health care facilities.”

CUPE is concerned that the government’s plan to reach a balanced budget by 2028 will come on the backs of Manitoba workers and public services families rely on.

“The government spent years cutting health care and eliminating full-time jobs, and now they pat themselves on the backs for this year’s budget,” added McKay.  “Manitobans won’t forget how this government decimated our health care system.”

“We are also deeply concerned that the government will look to privatizing, contracting out, and selling off public services in order to balance their budget,” says McKay.

“We are pleased that the government is providing wage support for community living workers,” says McKay. CUPE joined with MGEU and UFCW in a public campaign to call on the government to increase support for these critical workers.

“We need a government that takes bold steps to support public services, especially during a pandemic that is not yet over,” says McKay.  “This budget doesn’t do that.”

CUPE will continue to analyze the budget.

 

Unexplained government cuts have decimated refugee settlement services in downtown Winnipeg

CUPE is urgently calling on the federal government to restore funding to Welcome Place, and to stop layoffs that would leave refugee settlement services decimated in downtown Winnipeg.

More staff layoffs at Welcome Place are expected to occur on September 19th and October 1st.

Please send a letter to your MP and the Federal Minister of Immigration by using our letter tool here: Save Welcome Place.

“The federal government has cut 82% of total funding to Welcome Place, resulting in massive staff layoffs and reduced ability to serve Winnipeg’s refugee community,” says Vivienne Ho, President of CUPE 2348, which represents staff at Welcome Place.  “The federal government claims that it wants to support refugees in Canada, but then leaves entire communities and programs underfunded and underserved with a stroke of the pen.”

Welcome Place, also known as the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council (MIIC), has served downtown Winnipeg for over 40 years, helping thousands of newcomers and refugees settle and succeed in Manitoba.

“How can this government claim to support refugees when they are gutting a well-respected and established refugee serving organization? With new refugees arriving from Afghanistan in addition to other countries, we need to make sure people are cared for,” said Ho.

In April 2021, Welcome Place locked out its own workers, demanding significant concessions on top of the wage cuts and layoffs staff had already accepted. An arbitrator is set to rule on staff’s contract negotiations after Labour Board hearings on September 16th and 17th, 2021.

In the meantime, Welcome Place has served layoff notices to seven more staff for September 19, 2021, resulting in a nearly 88% reduction of staff since 2019. Still, more layoffs are expected on October 1st.

The remaining staff continues to help refugees with health care, legal, employment, financial, housing, and social supports throughout the pandemic, despite being severely short-staffed.

“Staff at Welcome Place have done their jobs serving refugees in Winnipeg, and are in fact mostly refugees themselves,” said Ho. “Staff have seen wage cuts and layoffs, yet the federal government continues to turn its back on these workers and the communities they serve. We need the federal government to stop the layoffs and restore funding to Welcome Place.”

CUPE 2348 is currently before the Manitoba Labour Board in an effort to hold back further concessions.

Lockout at Welcome Place Ends

Staff at Welcome Place (Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council) are returning to work after nearly three months being locked out by their employer.

 

“CUPE 2348 members at Welcome Place stood their ground and refused to accept concessions that would decimate their Collective Agreement,” says Vivienne Ho, President of CUPE Local 2348. “The actions that staff at Welcome Place took are inspiring and shows that workers will not back down when facing unacceptable attacks on their livelihoods”.

 

CUPE filed a request to the Manitoba Labour Board following sixty (60) days of the lockout, resulting in staff being able to return to work while an Arbitrator is appointed to help settle the agreement.

 

This process is currently being threatened by the Pallister Government’s Bill 16, which could prevent arbitrators settling labour disputes, resulting in prolonged lockouts or strikes.

 

“We are disappointed that this employer chose to lock out its own staff in the middle of the pandemic,” said Ho. “Our members are relieved that they can return to helping refugees and newcomers settle in Manitoba”.

Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council (MIIC)/Welcome Place makes dubious claims about client services continuing

WINNIPEG – One day after locking out its workers, Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council (MIIC) / Welcome Place is claiming that services continue, and the financial demands of its employees are responsible for their financial shortfall, even though the MIIC caused employees to have pay reductions of 12.5-27.5% over the last year. MIIC continues to demand workers accept concessions on issues that will not affect their bottom line, says the Regional Director of CUPE in Manitoba.

Since threatening to lock out workers a couple of weeks ago, CUPE has been working hard to address the outstanding issues, but the employer has refused to meaningfully adjust their demands. As a result, refugee workers have been forced out of their jobs over just a few issues, including cuts to workers’ rights and benefits.

“MIIC workers have not made any demands on their employer; the MIIC are the ones making the demands,” said Lee McLeod, Regional Director of CUPE in Manitoba. “Our attempts to address the outstanding issues of employee rights and benefits have been ignored, and MIIC has put people out of work over only a few issues that they are unwilling to move past.”

“These workers feel pride over the service they provide and feel hurt and frustrated by the decision to lock them out. They are not in it for the money, but they do not want to give up benefits they already have,” said Scott Clark, National Servicing Representative for CUPE. “We are aware of the funding challenges faced by MIIC and have never made any unreasonable demands. For the employer to claim that they need to do this for the survival of the organization is just false.”

Employees of MIIC are skilled workers, with years of experience helping new Canadians find such things as housing, legal assistance, and employment opportunities. While locked out, they will not be able to provide those services.

“MIIC claims they will continue to provide services to our clients; however, we doubt that is remotely possible without major delays or quality concerns,” said Nasra Hassan, MIIC employee. “There is no way management can take on these needs, and other agencies do not have the capacity or experience MIIC staff bring to the table. We have witnessed clients walking away from the building after discovering the lockout, having no notice or direction from MIIC. Our members are heartbroken.”

MIIC continues to demand reductions of vacation and similar benefits, reductions of general holidays, reduced layoff notice, the deletion of maternity leave Employment Insurance top-up, and that employees pay more for their health benefits. This is all in the context of the reclassified jobs with lower wages and higher workloads.

Workers at MIIC will be eligible for strike pay from CUPE, and Local 2348 has agreed to top-up that pay, a move that will allow workers to provide for their families during the lock-out.

“CUPE will support the workers at MIIC who are being treated unfairly,” continued McLeod. “We will not stop trying to get a deal, and will not allow the employer to use a lock-out to remove issues from the contract that employees have come to depend on.”

CUPE Seeking Alternatives to Pallister Public Sector Layoffs

Last week, with extremely short notice, CUPE was advised by the Pallister government about their desire to reduce the cost of so-called “non-essential” public sector workforce by 10-30 per cent. Unions and employers were initially informed about the plan through a provincial news release.

The workforce reduction will not apply to essential workers in areas like health care, child care, K-12 teaching and certain other public services and utilities – but it is alarming news from our government in the midst of the crisis of our generation. To do this, they are asking government departments and agencies to submit plans that cut workforce spending by 10%-30%.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour, CUPE, and our union friends in the Partnership to Defend Public Services attended a meeting on April 14th to discuss the request from government.

The government has presented two main options to avoid full layoffs of individual employees:

  1. Implement work-sharing agreements where “non-essential” staff would have their work week reduced to as few as two days per week and receive Employment Insurance for lost workdays. This work-sharing would have to be workplace-wide or possibly department-wide, unless positions are “essential”. The EI maximum of $54,000 per year would apply to income under this option.
  2. Expand employees’ ability to participate in a Voluntary Reduced Work Week. Under such a scenario, employees would be allowed to take up to 35 days of absence without pay. Approved VRWs may be treated as regular working days for pension, group life, and accumulated service calculations.

The work-sharing option is only possible if the federal government deems your employer eligible. Currently, the Federal Government has deemed Government Business Enterprises eligible (such as crown corporations and certain independent, revenue generating agencies) and Universities, but core government services such as the civil service and K-12education are not. The Federal Government would need to expand program eligibility further to include these last groups.

The government has so far been unable to say which public services they believe are non-essential. At the same time, the government has also made it clear that they will start making decisions on these matters very soon. The government has requested options for cost reductions by as early as Tuesday, April 21th. The provincial government has new powers under emergency legislation and could pass orders to require workforce reductions. CUPE is calling on the provincial government to respect our collective agreements.

CUPE Manitoba has serious concerns about these proposals, and some are worse than others. We are working towards the best solutions to the financial pressures of COVID-19, options that keep the public sector working. We want to keep doing our part to support health care and other public services that are so important and to work towards a collective social and economic recovery.

Across Manitoba, we are seeing the difference that public service workers are making in our communities. We know that quality public services are essential for all Manitobans – in normal times, and in these unprecedented and extremely challenging times, too.

The government’s job during a crisis is to demonstrate leadership, keep people safe, and make sure people can pay their bills and put food on the table. Cutting services and laying people off isn’t the answer. These measures reduce the government’s ability to respond and support people, and further shrinks the economy and the tax base.

We know this is creating more anxiety in your life during an already overwhelming time for all of us. We know that members have mortgages, rent, utilities and other bills to pay, and that a forced reduction in hours or days of work could create a personal crisis for you.

Please let us know how this might affect you – we would like to have stories and concerns and questions to share with management as we continue to look for answers. (We will keep your identity confidential.)

Protecting the jobs and livelihoods of our members and our communities is one of our top priorities, and we are working hard to avoid layoffs and mandatory workforce reductions across our provinces.

CUPE is here with you, and for you. Please contact your local CUPE executives if you have questions or concerns, and we’ll do everything we can to support you.

Manitoba Throne Speech threatens public education, child care, and continues to hurt front-line health care – CUPE

The Manitoba Throne Speech offers little reassurance that the provincial government will support public education and child care, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

“With the elimination of the education property tax, we are concerned that the government will resort to school cuts, especially under the auspices of the K-12 review,” said Abe Araya, President of Manitoba. “Where is the government going to come up with funding for our children’s education?”

The Throne Speech also introduces the government’s plans to increase private child care spaces in the province, including for capital investments in private child care facilities.

“The government should be focused on increasing public, affordable child care across Manitoba, rather than subsidizing private facilities that could end up costing families more,” said Araya. “Childcare advocates have been calling for fully funded public child care in the province, and this government is going the opposite direction”.

CUPE Manitoba President Abe Araya, and CUPE 204 President Debbie Boissonneault at the Manitoba Throne Speech

The government’s sweeping changes to the health care system continues to impact front-line health care support staff.

“As the government and health authorities continue to implement their restructuring of health care, support workers remain understaffed and under-valued,” said Debbie Boissonneault, President of CUPE Local 204 representing Community and Facility Support staff in the WRHA and Shared Health.

“We need investments in support staff positions, as well as a commitment from the province that they will not be privatizing or contracting out any health care services”.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union representing more than 700,000 members. In Manitoba, CUPE is the province’s largest union, representing approximately 36,000 members working in health care facilities, personal care homes, school divisions, municipal services, social services, child care centres, public utilities, libraries and family emergency services.

 

Abe Araya Elected as President of CUPE Manitoba

BRANDON – Delegates at the 2019 CUPE Manitoba Convention in Brandon elected Abe Araya as President of the province’s largest union. Abe Araya comes from CUPE Local 110, representing custodians, maintenance, and painters at the Winnipeg School Division.

“Our union is focused on fighting back against cuts to health care, education, social services, and privatization,” said Araya. “Despite Brian Pallister’s attempts to divide working people, we will be uniting workers from across Manitoba to put a stop to Pallister’s austerity agenda.”

Delegates at convention voted in support resolutions, ranging from health and safety in the workplace, anti-oppression training for activists, pushing back against privatization, fighting against health care and education cuts, and supporting the Green New Deal.

“CUPE is an incredibly diverse union,” said Araya. “With the strength of Manitoba’s largest union, we will be on the front line defending public health care and education, public Hydro, and fighting for properly funded childcare and social services for all Manitobans.”

CUPE’s annual convention featured guest speakers, including NDP leader Wab Kinew, NDP Critic for Infrastructure and Municipal Affairs Matt Wiebe, NDP Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre Leah Gazan, Winnipeg School Division Trustee Yijie Chen, and Manitoba Health Coalition Director Breanne Goertzen.

CUPE National President Mark Hancock and CUPE National Secretary-Treasurer Charles Fleury spoke to delegates, committing the full strength of CUPE’s 700,000 members to fight against cuts and privatization.

Manitoba Federation of Labour President Kevin Rebeck provided updates on labour’s united front against Bill 28 (The Public Services Sustainability Act) and committed to fight against the Pallister government’s unconstitutional wage freeze.

Two hundred people rallied outside Brandon City Hall with CUPE Local 69 on Wednesday evening, voicing concern over the contracting out of work at the Wheat City Golf Course.

Gord Delbridge, President of CUPE Local 500 served as interim CUPE Manitoba President throughout 2019. Delbridge continues to serve as Vice-President of CUPE Manitoba. Barb Gribben of CUPE Local 737 was this year’s recipient of the prestigious Jack Rodie Award, recognizing dedication and activism in the union.

“Our union is stronger, and more united than ever,” said Araya. “Manitobans can count on CUPE to defend good jobs, and fight for our public services.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union representing more than 700,000 members.  In Manitoba, CUPE represents over 36,000 members working in health care facilities, personal care homes, school divisions, municipal services, social services, childcare centres, public utilities, libraries and family emergency services.

CUPE donates room full of toys to kids in the care of CFS

Today CUPE donated hundreds of toys to kids currently in the care of Winnipeg Child and Family Services.

“We want to make sure that every child gets a gift this holiday season,” said Terry Egan, President of CUPE Manitoba. “We hope this will brighten the holidays for hundreds of Manitoba kids who may not otherwise receive a present this year.”

The annual donation is a joint effort between the CUPE Manitoba Young Members Committee and CUPE 2153 which represents Winnipeg Child & Family Services workers.