The union, which represents thousands of public sector employees in Manitoba, says it has reached an agreement with the province to avoid layoffs, weeks after Premier Brian Pallister said insanity cuts in staff — possibly including layoffs — were needed to secure funds for the fight against COVID-19. Now that the treaty is ratified, the MPI bargaining committee will meet with its employer to finalize and then sign the printing and distribution agreement to members. MGEU states that employees and their supervisors must enter into a mutual agreement on the five days they remain without pay during this fiscal year, and the already approved days of the Reduced Volunteer Work Week (VRW) are credited. “At the end of the day,” said Mr. Gawronsky, I think most members felt that the mix of wage and benefit increases and job security was a reasonable offer. The new four-year agreement includes general wage increases each year, market adjustments during the first 2 years of the agreement, benefit improvements and a job security clause for the duration of the agreement. The agreement covers the period from 18 September 2016 to 26 September 2020. “This round of bargaining had its own unique challenges, as both board members and the employer agreed to negotiate within a limited time frame. In the end, the agreement was reached after four months of extremely difficult negotiations and finally by a conciliator,” said Michelle Gawronsky, president of the MGEU. Pallister had initially ordered Crown businesses and publicly funded organizations to prepare to cut costs by up to 30 per cent, and said the province could have a deficit of up to $5 billion, mainly due to the coronavirus.
READ MORE: Manitoba says cutting non-vital jobs will free up money to fight COVID-19 “MGEU continues to believe these work cuts are unnecessary, unfair and harmful to Manitoba`s economy,” the MGEU letter reads. The Manitoba Government and General Employees` Union (MGEU) says the province has agreed to include a non-termination clause for this fiscal year, in exchange for all public service employees taking five days of leave without pay. The MGEU letter also states that it tried to reduce the number of unpaid days to three, but that the government would not bite. Exceptions include people who work in institutional environments such as corrections or the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, areas critical to pandemic response, such as care centres, and seasonal workers. MPI is a crown company that provides basic auto insurance throughout Manitoba and is committed to keeping Manitoba`s roads safe and auto insurance rates low. There are over 1500 MGEU/NUPGE members working for MPI throughout the province. This reduction eventually fell to just 2.2% on average. It has also never been clear which workers or services are not considered essential and are threatened with dismissal. “However, given the real threat of the prime minister`s dismissal, MGEU believes that guaranteeing protection without dismissal and accepting the five unpaid days is a better way for civil servants.” Winnipeg (March 29, 2016) – Members of the Manitoba Government and General Employees` Union (MGEU/NUPGE), who work at Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), have ratified a new four-year treaty. In a letter to members, the union states that newly announced days of non-payment will be treated in the same way as other VRV days, since deductions will be spread over the payment periods available during that fiscal year.
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