MGEU members hold one-day strike

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/07/2023 (838 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Workers represented by the Manitoba Government Employees Union picketed outside of the 18th Street Liquor Mart on Wednesday in the first phase of strike action following the breakdown of contract negotiations.

The union gave notice last week that it would kick off job action with a one-day walkout for its almost 1,400 affected workers, who have been working on an expired contract since March 24, 2022.

When the Sun visited the picket line around 10:30 a.m., 27 workers marched in a circular route on the boulevard next to Aberdeen Avenue. Early this month, a union representative told the Sun that 86 workers would be affected by potential job action in Brandon.

Picketers wore signs with slogans like “Catch up, keep up” and references to MLAs getting higher wage increases than public sector workers have been offered.

A sign on the door of the 1015 Victoria Ave. location stated that the 1645 18th St. store was the only location open Wednesday, with the Victoria, 18th Street North and the express location in the west end all shuttered for the day.

Though picketing workers said they were not authorized to speak, MGEU president Kyle Ross spoke to the Sun by phone from Winnipeg.

He said it was unfair that public sector unions like his are being offered wage increases in the neighbourhood of two per cent a year when MLAs are getting a 3.3 per cent wage increase this year and an estimated 3.6 per cent next year due to their salaries being tied to inflation.

“It’s really disappointing,” Ross said. “MBLL workers have worked through the pandemic. They’ve worked through all the steps and all the issues in their stores and this government commended them and talked about how critical they were to Manitoba, and then they show up with substandard offers while taking a bigger offer themselves.”

He said the union’s most recent request was to get the same percentage increases that MLAs will be receiving.

There has been no response to their later offer to the employer, he said. The last time the two sides met was Thursday last week.

Planning is still underway for further job action after Wednesday’s walkout.

“Our goal is to get back to the table and hopefully settle this,” he said. “But I would say that we’re still planning for other actions. Our goal is to impact Manitobans as least as possible because we don’t want to ruin their summers.”

According to Ross, attempts to secure a meeting with Jeff Wharton, the minister responsible for the public service, and Finance Minister Cliff Cullen to get the government’s assistance in breaking through the deadlock went unanswered.

The Sun reached out to Wharton’s press secretary for comment. A different press secretary, Brant Batters, provided a statement he attributed to an unnamed government spokesperson.

“Government is not the employer, and all inquiries on the status of bargaining should be directed to MBLL. We urge both sides to remain at the bargaining table, for the benefit of all Manitobans.”

A Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries spokesperson declined an interview request by email but sent a brief statement on the situation.

“MBLL remains committed to returning to the table on Friday to reach a fair collective agreement that balances steady improvements for our staff with the corporation’s financial commitment to all Manitobans to provide revenues that support priority programs such as education and health care,” the statement read.

They wrote that updates on bargaining can be found online at mbll.ca/bargaining.

That page states: “Although we were hopeful our most recent offers would lead to a resolution, they were not acceptable to MGEU, even though we felt it was a fair and reasonable offer, which attempted to address the interests of both parties.”

By email, Manitoba NDP critic for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Lisa Naylor said the situation shows the current premier isn’t much different from her predecessor.

“Heather Stefanson said she’d be different from Brian Pallister, but since day one as premier, she has been picking fights with working families,” Naylor wrote. “Her mismanagement and incompetence are making life harder for families and workers.”

Late Wednesday afternoon, the MGEU put out a statement saying that workers at MBLL’s liquor distribution centre would remain on strike Thursday and that all union members have been asked to refuse overtime until further notice.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark