Union representation votes triggered by the provincial government’s Health Sector Bargaining Unit Review Act (HSBURA) resulted in significant change for health care workers in Manitoba.
CUPE is proud that health care workers in the Northern Regional Health Authority Community Support and Facility Support votes, including Home Care chose CUPE to lead them into bargaining.
“CUPE is ready to fight for our members at the bargaining table, and represent them in the workplace,” said Christine Lussier, President of CUPE Local 8600. “With the representation votes concluded, CUPE is turning our efforts to welcoming our new members to CUPE, and get to the bargaining table for everyone”.
CUPE is now the largest public sector union in Northern Manitoba.
CUPE will now represent approximately 911 members in the NRHA, welcoming 504 new members, including Northern Home Care, Thompson, Gillam, and Lynn Lake.
CUPE thanks all participating unions, including the MGEU, MNU, MAHCP, PSAC, OEM 982, UFCW 832 and others, and is committed to working together to fight back against health care cuts and privatization, as well as any attempts made by the government to undermine workers’ rights in Manitoba.
The voting period ran from August 8th to August 22nd. The results were released by Robert Pruden, the Commissioner appointed by the provincial government to implement and oversee the votes.
The Health Sector Bargaining Unit Review Act aims to reduce the number of collective agreements in health care. As a result, union representation votes were triggered.
Voting sectors CUPE participated in across Manitoba included Facility Support, Community Support, Professional Technical, and Nurses.
CUPE is now Manitoba’s largest union, with 36,000 members.