Health Care

News and updates about our health care members.

Health Care Support Workers’ Week: October 16 – 20, 2023

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CUPE is celebrating the work of its thousands of members in health care support roles across Manitoba. The Manitoba Government officially proclaimed October 16 – 20 as Health Care Support Workers’ Week. 

“Health care support workers keep our health care system working, and are a critical part of the health care team,” stated Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba. “This week is a special week to recognize each and every health care support worker in every community across Manitoba”.

This week also falls on the official swearing-in week of Manitoba’s newly elected provincial government. CUPE Manitoba is hopeful that this new government will address the chronic issues facing Manitoba’s health care support workers, including the ongoing staffing crisis that impacts long term care, acute care, and home care.

“The past seven years under Brian Pallister and Heather Stefanson have been difficult for health care support workers,” said McKay. “Health care workers are looking forward to a government that listens and takes the concerns of workers across Manitoba seriously”.

LISTEN to our radio ad, airing across Manitoba:

READ the Proclamation (English) Proclamation (French)
Letter from government to CUPE: Letter from Honourable Audrey Gordon, (former) Minister of Health

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union representing more than 715,000 members. In Manitoba, CUPE represents approximately 37,000 members working in health carefacilities, personal care homes, school divisions, municipal services, social services, child care centres, public utilities, libraries and family emergency services.

Brandon Clinic shuts down walk-in services

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The Brandon Clinic informed CUPE Local 2096 and the Brandon community that the walk-in clinic will be closed, effective July 4, 2023.

“Walk-in services at the Brandon Clinic are yet another victim of the provincial government’s inability to attract and retain doctors and other health care workers to Manitoba” said Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba.

The Brandon Clinic issued a memo to the community, indicating that this closure is a direct result of “severe family physician shortages”.

“Closing the walk-in clinic will put further stress on the Brandon Hospital which is already short-staffed and overwhelmed,” said Dawna Klemick, President of CUPE Local 2096 representing 44 health care workers including nurses, at the Brandon Clinic.

“We’ve already lost nurses at the Brandon Clinic in recent weeks, and now the community is really being left out in the cold, it is unacceptable, and the province has to do something to address the health care staffing crisis in Manitoba”.

Brandon Clinic is one of Westman’s largest medical clinics that includes walk-in services that serve the entire region.

For information, contact:  David Jacks, CUPE Communications at 204-801-7339

Brandon Clinic Lays Off Nurses

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BRANDON, TREATY 2 – Today the Brandon Clinic informed CUPE Local 2096 that seven health care workers are being laid off due to funding constraints, in what is being described as a shock to the community in Brandon.

“There is no legitimate reason that nurses at Brandon Clinic should be receiving layoff notices, especially with the critical shortage of health workers across Manitoba,” said Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba.

These staff, which include five full-time nurses, one casual nurse, and one transcription position, provide important health services for the community, including biopsies, excisions, mental health exams, dressings, pediatric support and so much more.

“We have no shortage of work at the Brandon Clinic, and the news of layoffs comes as a huge shock,” said Dawna Klemick, President of CUPE Local 2096 representing forty-four health care workers including nurses, at the Brandon Clinic.  “This is certainly going to impact the community since other health services are already overwhelmed – where are people going to go?”

Brandon Clinic is one of Westman’s largest medical clinics that includes walk-in services that serve the entire region.

“Brandon is an important hub for Manitoba health care.  Cuts and closures in the Westman area have a significant impact on patients and health care facilities across the province,” said Thomas Linner, Provincial Director of the Manitoba Health Coalition (MHC).  “Unfortunately, the Manitoba government has focused on providing tax cuts of over $1 billion – mostly to the wealthiest individuals and corporations doing business in Manitoba – instead of investing in health care in communities like Brandon.”

CUPE Manitoba and MHC are calling on the provincial government to work with the Brandon Clinic and ensure that these layoff notices are withdrawn so that the staff can get back to work for the community they care for.

Home Care is in Crisis, the Time to Fix it is Now

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CUPE Manitoba has launched an email petition calling on the Stefanson Conservatives to address the crisis in Home Care.

This Home Care petition follows the ongoing Health Care and Anti-Privatization petitions on our We Work for Manitoba website that have seen more than 10,000 emails sent to the Premier, to government Ministers, and to local MLA’s.

Please sign the petition to Fix the Crisis in Home Care and share it on social media. We invite all CUPE Local leaders in Manitoba to promote the petition with your membership.

Throne Speech Response, CUPE Manitoba President Gina McKay

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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.

Health Care Support Workers’ Recognition Day: October 18, 2022

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CUPE is celebrating the work of its thousands of members in health care support roles across Manitoba. The Manitoba Government officially proclaimed October 18 as Health Care Support Workers’ Day.

“Health care support workers are the pillars of our health care system,” stated Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba. “They keep our health care system running, despite the government’s inability to provide adequate support to frontline health care workers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

“Despite working short-staffed, health care support workers in Manitoba have been doing everything possible to care for the community”, said Debbie Boissonneault, President of CUPE 204, representing facility and community support workers in the WRHA and Shared Health. “We call on the government to recognize our work by providing enough resources for us to do it effectively, and while we recently achieved a new agreement, we know more needs to be done”.

“Health care support workers are often unrecognized in their day-to-day work ,” said Holly Chaperon, President of CUPE 4270, representing facility and community support workers in Southern Health – Sante Sud. “We know who the Doctors and Nurses are, and how important their roles are in our lives. But, do you know who the support workers are? Support staff work tirelessly every single day, and deserve to be acknowledged.” 

“From Nunavut to the US border, Manitoba’s health care support workers deserve recognition and respect,” said Christine Lussier, President of CUPE 8600, representing facility and community support workers in the Northern Regional Health Authority. “It has been a difficult time for staff, especially in the North where we are working incredibly short-staffed every single day, but health care support workers in the NRHA continue to keep our community healthy”.

“Health care support workers who work in private personal care homes are working tirelessly to provide support to residents,” said Daniel Richards, Chair of the CUPE Manitoba Private Personal Care Home Committee. “These workers are also working short-staffed, and continue to call on the government to legislate mandatory minimum staffing requirements in care homes”.

Read the full declaration (English)

Read the full declaration (French)

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union representing more than 643,000 members. In Manitoba, CUPE represents approximately 37,000 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. CUPE Health care locals include CUPE 204, CUPE 500, CUPE 4270, and CUPE 8600.

Health Care Update re: Retro Pay (former employees)

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Former employees are entitled to receive any applicable retroactive pay provided they request the retroactive pay from their former Employer in writing no later than ninety (90) days after the ratification date, September 23, 2022.

As part of the written request submitted the employee MUST include the following:

  • Email Subject line must state “Retro Request for (employee name) terminated employee(CUPE)”
  • Date of retirement/resignation
  • Name of the Employer that the employee is requesting retro payment from
  • Employee’s current mailing address
  • Direct deposit information, if it has changed since you were last employed

Employer Organization Contact

Northern
All sites – email Payroll – payroll@nrha.ca

Southern Health
All sites – email Payroll at Payrollsupport@southernhealth.ca

Shared Health
All sites on SAP – email RetroRequest@wrha.mb.ca

CancerCare Manitoba – email ccmbpayroll@cancercare.mb.ca

Rehabilitation Centre for Children – email kizzyp@rccinc.ca

Eden Mental Health Centre – email jfehr3@edenhealth.mb.ca

Winnipeg/Churchill     
All sites on SAP – email RetroRequest@wrha.mb.ca

CUPE Health Care Support Staff Ratify Seven-Year Deal

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Update for CUPE health care support members

CUPE Health Care Support Staff from CUPE 204/Shared Health and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA), CUPE 500/WRHA – Riverview Health Centre and WRHA Corporate, CUPE 4270/ Southern Health-Santé Sud (SH-SS) and CUPE 8600/Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) have voted to accept the new collective agreement.

The ratification date is September 23, 2022.  The collective agreement will expire on March 31, 2024.

The new agreement includes wage increases in each year of the agreement including retroactive pay, a signing bonus for all members, an increase in shift premiums, improvements for the Community Programs/Home Care groups, a more flexible “single-day” vacation system for all members, double overtime and market adjustments.

“This was an incredibly difficult round of negotiations due to government interference, attempted wage freeze, disruptive restructuring, forced union amalgamations, and the pandemic” said Shannon McAteer, CUPE Health Care Coordinator.  “Despite these challenges, this new agreement sets a solid foundation for the next round of negotiations.”

The employer has 120 days within which to issue retroactive pay and the signing bonus. It will be issued on a separate pay deposit.  Former employees (retired or quit) have 90 days to write to the employer requesting retroactive pay they are owed following the rules posted on the Local’s website.

“We thank all CUPE members who took the time to vote either electronically or in person and are committed to continue to improve your contract,” said McAteer. “We will continue to hold the provincial government accountable and push back against any attacks on our public health care system and the workers who support it”.

Throughout negotiations, health care support staff have felt extremely disrespected by the current government–and continue to feel undervalued. Many members told us they voted not because they liked the deal, but because they couldn’t wait any longer.

In solidarity,
Your Bargaining Council