Community members have organized an online petition in support of CUPE Local 2348 members who are seeking equity in their contract!
Please sign the online petition here.
Important Facts:
- Midwives in Manitoba care deeply for their clients, as well as for the profession. However the reality that midwives are being compensated significantly less in Manitoba puts an unnecessary strain on the profession.
- Midwives are willing to strike in order to ensure a competitive, well-funded profession while at the same time ensuring excellence in health care provision.
- Midwives in Winnipeg have been without a contract for 2 years.
- We are calling for competitive compensation so we don’t lose midwives to other provinces or professions.
- A Saskatchewan arbitration decision in January of this year found Manitoba’s midwives make around $20,000 (or $5 to $10) less than the Western Canadian average.
- The province is putting resources into training new midwives, but we need to be competitive to recruit new staff, and retain existing staff.
- Of the 75 midwives registered to the College of Midwives, 20 are no longer practicing, of which 8 have left the practice since January, 2015.
- We are hearing directly from midwives who are leaving the practice that they are seeking opportunities in other provinces, or are joining another profession like nursing.
- There is a shortage of about 150 midwives in Manitoba, and we need to ensure we are providing competitive compensation to keep them in the province.Please support Winnipeg’s midwives!