Shelley Baker president of CUPE 2153, representing members supporting Child and Family Services in Winnipeg and Eastern Manitoba spoke to media recently to build awareness of the issues facing CUPE members.
See the CTV coverage here.
“CUPE 2153 was the target of some extreme austerity, cuts and privatization under the previous PC government”, says Baker. “The PCs chopped the staff ratios, programming and supports in place for children at emergency shelters so that where we used to have over 600 staff supporting this kids, that number is now nearly 300.”
“In addition, wages just haven’t kept up to the cost of living crises, creating major retention and recruitment issues, with many workers making only cents above minimum wage. This staffing crises is having a real impact on quality of life for these kids. It’s quite tragic.”
“However, we know there is a new government in Manitoba, one that ran on a platform of making life better for workers and better for families. We have a minister of families that wants to protect and support kids in care – that’s why we are drawing attention to this plight today. We want to be partners here to make life better for kids in care. We know its not this governments fault that cuts were made, but we need action now to reverse the PC cuts.”
CUPE 2153 is at the bargaining table now, demanding a fix to the retention and recruitment crises, real wage growth that respects workers, improvements to health and safety policies and the resources they need to ensure the kids they are responsible for receive the best possible care during a very difficult time in their lives.