MPI union workers vote for strike action

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This article was published 19/08/2023 (967 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU) could be spearheading another major strike in the near future, now that Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) workers have “overwhelmingly” rejected their employer’s latest offer.

According to a Thursday evening news release from the union, this vote took place over the last week-and-a-half in communities like Winnipeg, Thompson, Dauphin and Brandon, with MGEU members voting in favour of a strike mandate.

While no strike date has been set as of Friday afternoon, MGEU president Kyle Ross told the Sun that the union has been busy ordering signs and selecting picket captains in case next week’s negotiations with MPI fall through.

“We’re really hoping to have some movement at the table and have some fruitful discussions and get to a place where we’re not going on strike,” Ross said over the phone on Friday.

“If they come [and] present something that’s fair and our committee believes that our members will accept it, then we can avert this strike.”

This is far from the only labour dispute that Ross and his team have coordinated this summer, with Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries employees and land titles office workers currently engaged in negotiations after going on strike.

MGEU managed to avoid a similar situation with Assiniboine Community College and Red River College earlier this week, with all three parties having ratified a new four-year contract agreement for its post-secondary instructors and administrators.

While no strike action is the same, Ross explained that the unifying cause of these disruptions is the wage increases in these new contracts, which are not keeping pace with inflation or the cost of living.

In 2022 alone, the province’s consumer price index shot up 7.8 per cent after increasing 3.3 per cent the previous year, according to a recent report from the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics.

MPI’s latest offer — meant to replace a contract that expired on Sept. 26, 2022 —was limited to a two per cent annual wage increase, which is similar to the deal that caused Manitoba liquor workers to take to the picket line back in mid-July.

Ross claims that these restrictive wage mandates are being put in place by Premier Heather Stefanson’s Progressive Conservative government, which is giving MGEU members no choice but to take drastic measures.

“From what I understand, MPI [members] have never in their lifetime voted to take strike action,” the union president said. “So it really shows that these mandates … have been very impactful on our members’ lives, because it’s really out of the norm that we’re in this situation and the MGEU is here to support our members.”

MGEU represents approximately 1,700 MPI workers across the province, with 103 of those employees operating out of Brandon.

If this large group of clerks, accountants, estimators, adjusters, computer programmers and policy analysts were to go on strike, Ross admits that this would have a big impact on Manitobans who need to access the Crown corporation’s various programs and services.

“If it was a full out job action, you wouldn’t be able to process claims, you wouldn’t be able to renew your license except maybe through a broker,” he said. “But overall, it would be very difficult to do any insurance transactions in the province of Manitoba when it comes to car insurance.”

However, Ross said the union’s aim next week is to resolve this contract dispute as soon as possible, provided that MPI is willing to negotiate in good faith.

“Strikes are stressful,” he said. “They’re hard on Manitobans, they’re hard on our workers, they’re hard on the leadership of the corporation. We would much rather settle a deal than have to impact all these people’s lives.”

An MPI spokesperson told the Sun on Friday that the union’s recent strike vote hasn’t disrupted their day-to-day operations as of yet.

“The corporation is encouraged that MGEU has expressed interest in returning to the bargaining table and MPI is committed to exploring opportunities to fairly resolve the new collective agreement as soon as possible to avoid disruptions to our employees, customers and Manitobans,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

Ross told the Sun that negotiations between MGEU and MPI are tentatively scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com