Privatization

Manitoba government forges ahead with problematic P3 school plan

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WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Progressive Conservative government is moving ahead with their plan to build new schools using an unaccountable, costly, and problematic model, says CUPE Manitoba.

“The Stefanson Government is making a big mistake by building nine new schools under the public-private partnership (P3) model,” said Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba. “P3 schools are less accountable to the public, cost more, and often have restrictive rules over what teachers and staff can do in the classroom.”

The Manitoba government cites Saskatchewan as being evidence of the benefits of P3 schools, but the actual evidence proves otherwise.

In Regina, teachers weren’t allowed to decorate classrooms or open windows in P3 schools, while the Leader Post reported that Saskatchewan is spending four times more per school for maintenance on their P3 schools.

In Nova Scotia the government has had to “buy back” their P3 schools because it was too expensive to keep the lease, while in New Brunswick the Auditor General found that the P3 school process was not transparent and did not prove that P3 schools were cheaper.

P3 schools have also had restrictions on what can be done in the classroom because the private partner did not want to incur costs, something Manitoba Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister James Teitsma has recognized, indicating that chemistry teachers might not be permitted to fully teach the curriculum out of fears that science experiments might “unfairly” cost the private partner more.

“P3 schools cost taxpayers more, so private companies can take a cut of profit from our public school divisions,” said McKay. “The PC’s underfunding of Manitoba schools has already led to problems, and now they want more education funding going to private, for-profit companies rather than into our classrooms.”

When first elected, the Progressive Conservative government’s first order of business was to scrap P3 Accountability Legislation in Manitoba, paving the way for unaccountable P3s in our schools.

When the PC government first tried to introduce P3 schools to Manitoba, they found that it was actually cheaper and faster to build schools the way they have always been built.

In a cynical move today, the PCs set the deadline for their Request for Qualifications as October 4, the day after the Manitoba provincial election.

“The PCs know that P3 schools are controversial and have problems across Canada, yet they are still trying to bind Manitobans into a bad deal,” said McKay. “October 3 is election day, and if Manitobans want to stop Stefanson’s unaccountable P3 agenda, then use your voice at the ballot box to vote them out.”

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 care facilities, personal care homes, home care, school divisions, municipal services, social services, child care centres, public utilities, libraries, and family emergency services.

Stefanson setting new Manitoba schools up for failure: CUPE Manitoba

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WINNIPEG, TREATY 1 – Today Minister of Education, Wayne Ewasko, and Minister of Consumer Protection and Government Services, James Teitsma, announced that they will be building new schools under the Public-Private Partnership (P3) model.

“This government tried P3 schools before but cancelled them because they realised building schools the traditional way would cost less and get done faster,” said
Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba. “Bringing P3 schools back from the dead shows that the Stefanson government is ideologically committed to a bad idea.” 

Evidence across Canada shows that P3s are less accountable and will cost more.

In today’s release, Ministers Ewasko and Teitsma cited Alberta and Saskatchewan as being successful cases, but the Alberta government recently scrapped their plans to build more P3 schools citing cost and inflexibility for teachers. In one case, due to the private contract, staff were not permitted to operate the thermostat. This was the second time Alberta conservative governments have abandoned their controversial P3 school model.

In Regina, teachers weren’t allowed to decorate classrooms or open windows in P3 schools. In 2018 it was found that Saskatchewan was spending four times more per school on maintenance for 18 new P3 schools as it had for the remaining 621 schools in the province.

“Stefanson is setting these schools up for failure,” said McKay. “Manitobans won’t forget this governments attacks on schools and education workers, and we won’t accept P3 schools in our province.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees represents more than 6,000 school support staff in Manitoba.

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.

CUPE Local 1063 Members Rally Against Contracting Out

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Staff at the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) held an information rally on Tuesday, mobilizing against contracting out and calling for a fair deal in the workplace.

“We want the WCB to know that staff are not willing to see their jobs devalued or contracted out,” explained Rick Rennie, President of CUPE Local 1063.

“The WCB is a highly effective agency serving Manitobans, and staff are the reason for that success. We want our employer to recognize this value and offer a fair deal for staff.”

CUPE 1063 members voted overwhelmingly for a strike mandate in September, and while negotiations are ongoing, the bargaining team is already mobilizing members.

“We want the employer to know that we are serious, and that staff at the WCB are united.”

The rally included remarks from Rennie, as well as greetings from Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew, and Manitoba Federation of Labour President Kevin Rebeck who is also a member of CUPE 1063.

“Contracting out should never be on the table,” said Rebeck. “Threatening peoples’ jobs and leveraging that against fair compensation is unacceptable. I stand with CUPE 1063 in their fight for fairness in the workplace. These workers deserve a fair deal.”

CUPE Manitoba President Gina McKay stated that CUPE will not accept the privatization of vital public services like the WCB.

CUPE 1063 continues to negotiate and plan to launch more events to mobilize members.

Manitoba Budget Continues to Fall Short

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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.

 

“Wall Report” on Manitoba Hydro projects opens new doors to privatization

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The release of the much anticipated “Wall Report” opens the door to new forms of privatization in Manitoba Hydro through the use of Private Public Partnerships (P3s), the sale of entire divisions of our provincialpublic utility, and the introduction of private companies to generate electricity in Manitoba, says CUPE 998.

“Pallister’s approach to privatizing Manitoba Hydro is about taking one slice at a time,” says Michelle Bergen, President of CUPE 998. “This government is carving off pieces of our Crown Corporation for sale, winding down subsidiaries, and now potentially introducing P3s to our hydro infrastructure and allowing private, for-profit generation of electricity.”

Wall’s report recommends continuing the government’s agenda of breaking apart Manitoba Hydro by dissolving Manitoba Hydro’s subsidiaries, which the report suggests are not “core” to the work of the utility. Wall suggested the government could sell these off and “use the proceeds” to reduce debt. Wall specifically alluded to Manitoba Hydro’s natural gas division.

Wall’s report explicitly calls for the end of a fully public system by introducing private, for-profit companies to the market. For example, recommendation #2.1 in the report encourages the government to consider private sector access to hydro transmission to allow private companies to compete with Manitoba Hydro for export customers

The report also focuses on introducing Private Public Partnerships (P3s) to Hydro projects.

P3s are a form of privatization, and it’s clear that the Wall Report recommends opening the door for privatization of Manitoba Hydro ‘by stealth’. “P3s are more expensive, reduce public oversight, and result in significant profits for the private sector at the public’s cost.

P3s are often promoted with the claim that the private sector takes on responsibility for risks previously assumed by the public. However, so-called risk transfer comes with a very high price tag.

“Private, for-profit corporations in P3s aren’t participating in projects for the public good, they are there to make a profit,” says Bergen. “At the end of the day no private company would ever take on risk associated with building hydro-electric dams in Northern Manitoba without the expectation of significant private profit, and Manitobans will be the ones paying for that profit with even less accountability.”

The previous NDP government enacted legislation that ensures thorough oversight, transparency, and accountability for any proposed P3 project in Manitoba. This was among the first laws that the Pallister government scrapped upon taking office in 2016.

In October 2019, the Pallister government commissioned former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall to take over as commissioner of a secretive inquiry into Manitoba Hydro’s Bipole III transmission and converter station project, and Keeyask Generating Station. The report was announced on Friday, February 26, 2021, and can be found here.

CUPE Local 998 represents approximately 900 clerical and technical staff at Manitoba Hydro.

Manitobans support public and non-profit take-over of private long-term care homes

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WINNIPEG – A new poll from Probe Research, commissioned by CUPE, has found that two thirds of Manitobans would want the government or non-profit agencies to take over at least some privately operated personal care homes in the province, with nearly 40% saying *all* private personal care homes should become public or non-profit.

The poll further finds that over half of Manitobans do not trust private companies (like Revera) to provide good quality care to the elderly and chronically ill, and that eight-in-ten Manitobans do trust non-profit organizations and the government (like Regional Health Authorities) to provide good care.

“Manitobans have seen first-hand the critical need for strong, public and non-profit care for our elders,” said Abe Araya, President of CUPE Manitoba. “The Manitoba government needs to phase out private for-profit care homes and invest in a strong public system.”

More than half of all COVID-19 related deaths in Manitoba have been in long-term care facilities, with many in privately operated care homes.

Overwhelming majority of Manitobans support legislated minimum staffing requirements in care homes.

Ninety-four percent of Manitobans support regulations that would increase the minimum staffing levels at long-term care homes. Support for increased staffing levels runs across party lines, and finds support in both rural communities and Winnipeg.

“CUPE has been calling for increased staffing levels in long term care homes for years,” said Araya. “Manitobans understand the critical need to legislate minimum staffing levels so we can get our seniors the care and attention they deserve, now and post-COVID-19.”

On May 27, 2020, NDP healthcare critic Uzoma Asagwara introduced a bill to legislate mandatory minimum staffing requirements for long term care homes, however the Pallister government used their majority to filibuster it, preventing it from being debated in the last legislative session.

“It is unfortunate that the government missed this chance to do the right thing for our seniors,” said Araya. “With such a wide range of Manitobans supporting legislation on minimum staffing levels, you would think the government would act.”

The poll ran between November 24 and December 4, 2020, surveying a random and representative sampling of 1,000 adults residing in Manitoba.

Download the full report and data tables here.

CUPE represents approximately 19,000 health care support workers in Manitoba, including in both private and personal care homes.

Public services in Manitoba are in trouble under Pallister: CUPE responds to Throne Speech

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If the government plans to do to education, what they did to health care, then Manitoba is in really big trouble, says CUPE Manitoba representing 36,000 workers in the province.

“The province’s ongoing health reforms led to worker fatigue and staff shortages before the pandemic started, and now those issues have become even worse,” says Abe Araya, President of CUPE Manitoba.

“The looming threat of education reform has already impacted morale among front-line workers and educators in the school system at a time when the focus should be entirely on supporting our kids.”

Any report on education reform that was written before the pandemic is now archaic and should be scrapped, according to CUPE.

“We now know the value of having distinct school boards in our diverse communities who can respond directly to the needs of families, as well as the critical importance of ensuring school support staff have the resources they need to help keep our kids safe and help deliver the best quality education possible. Now is not the time for education reform,” said Araya.

The elimination of the education property tax will further erode school divisions abilities to respond to the education needs of their communities.

Health care in distress

On the health care front, CUPE continues to call on the government to increase staffing levels in long term care homes and provide robust paid sick leave to health care support staff who self-isolate.

“CUPE has called on the government to address the now systemic issue of working short in health care prior to the pandemic, and now we are seeing the very serious impact this is having on staff and residents,” said Debbie Boissonneault, President of CUPE 204 representing 14,000 health care workers in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health.

“The government plans capital upgrades in long-term care facilities, but why won’t the government meet with us to discuss staffing levels? Why won’t the government act now to ensure our support staff and residents get the care they deserve?”

While the federal government recently announced 10 paid sick days for Canadian workers who are impacted by the pandemic, it does not go nearly far enough to support front-line staff who have already used up their sick banks and vacation time for the 14-day self-isolation period.

Some workers have already self-isolated more than once, and the Provincial government should fill that gap.

“Health care workers, including home care, need to be assured that they won’t be financially penalized because they take self-isolation and the wellbeing of their residents seriously,” says Boissonneault.

“Health care workers have been on the front-line in the fight against COVID from the start, and they need to be able to continue fighting for the months and maybe years to come. Those limited sick days are critical in ensuring they can take the time away from health care settings if they get ill – COVID or otherwise.”

CUPE is also deeply concerned that the provincial government may be considering privatizing home care services for seniors.

“Home care must remain public,” said Boissonneault. “Private profit has no place in the delivery of health care services to our elders, and this government must not be allowed to privatize this critical service for Manitoba seniors.”

Child care “choice” concerning

CUPE is concerned that this government is going to move further in the direction of private-for-profit child care under the guise of “choice,” while letting the non-profit child care centres continue to struggle under the combined challenges of inadequate funding and COVID-related challenges.

Manitoba Hydro’s future uncertain

Pallister is chipping away at Manitoba Hydro, carving out Power Smart, privatizing Hydro’s money-making subsidiaries, and forcing staff into furloughs despite the continued need for a strong public energy utility, says CUPE.

“Pallister is leading Hydro down the path of privatization and CUPE is afraid he could use the pandemic as an excuse to sell off Hydro in whole or in part to pay down the debt,” says Araya.  “This government has been making very strategic cuts to Hydro, and Manitobans should be very concerned with Pallister’s agenda for Hydro.”

Lastly, CUPE urges the provincial government to support the thousands of Manitoba workers who have been without a contract since the unconstitutional wage freeze legislation was introduced.

“If Pallister cared about working people, he would get to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair deal for the thousands of front-line workers who have been stepping up to the plate to protect Manitobans every single day.”

Premier Pallister is playing smoke and mirrors with Hydro

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Winnipeg – Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is playing smoke and mirrors with the public, and is using the COVID-19 pandemic to justify his agenda of public sector cuts, says CUPE 998 President Michelle Bergen representing clerical and technical staff at Manitoba Hydro.

“The half-truths and disinformation coming out of the Premier’s mouth show a deep lack of leadership, and need to be addressed,” says Bergen in response to Pallister’s media conference today.

The Premier consistently claims that public sector unions have not been participating in meaningful dialogue with government or government departments as per Pallister’s April 17 demand for reduced spending.

There is no merit to the latest claim that Manitoba Hydro staff and their representatives have not been participating in constructive dialogue.

On April 20, CUPE and other unions representing Manitoba Hydro employees provided numerous suggestions for alternatives and requested more in-depth discussions, including the option of pursuing Work Share programs (as suggested by Pallister himself), but were turned down by Hydro.

The mandate from government becomes clear: it is either wage rollbacks or layoffs, regardless of what discussions took place.

“The reality is that unions have been at the forefront of constructive labour relations during the pandemic, offering solutions and ideas, and I don’t think the Premier expected that”, says Bergen.

“Pallister is caught in his own web, and is looking for anyone to blame, whether it be unions, universities, school divisions or Crowns who are telling him they just can’t cut any more.”

The government has resisted questions on what employees constitute ‘non-essential’ for the purposes of layoffs.

To-date Pallister has provided only deflections and musings about how we’re all family and we need to pull up our boot straps, or something tedious like that.

“Premier Pallister needs to stop using the pandemic as a smoke screen for his austerity agenda, and he needs to come clean to Manitobans”, concludes Bergen.

In the meantime, it is CUPE 998’s intention to get back to meeting with Hydro to discuss alternatives to mass layoffs.

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

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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.