Strike possible after Manitoba health-care support workers reject tentative deal
Thousands of Manitoba health care workers have rejected a new labour agreement, setting the stage for a potential strike.
According to a member update from the Canadian Union of Public Employees on Thursday, support workers with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Shared Health and Southern Health-Santé Sud rejected a tentative contract offer reached in late July.
They include facility and community workers at Winnipeg’s Riverview Health Centre.
Facility support workers with Southern Health voted to accept the deal. CUPE local 8600 workers in the Northern Regional Health Authority also voted yes to the new agreement.
The current contract for the workers expired in March and had been in place for seven years. The members voted last week on whether to approve the new deal. The union did not release a breakdown of the vote.
The tentative deal’s specifics have not been revealed publicly, but a union official previously told CBC it was “very similar” to tentative agreements the province has reached with nurses and teachers.
In the northern region, where the deal was accepted, the union said the agreement includes wage increases of a compounded 12.85 per cent over four years as well as increases related to northern retention and salary incentives, along with increased vacation allowances.
The support workers CUPE represents include health-care aides, home-care attendants and dietary and clerical staff.
The rejection of the tentative contract sends the union back to the bargaining table with a strike mandate. In its bulletin, the union said only workers who rejected the deal could potentially wind up on strike.
“No strike date has been set yet,” the union told members in bold letters. “But rest assured, with your strike mandate, CUPE is going all-in at the table.”
The union represents 18,000 health support workers in the province.
CBC News has requested comment from CUPE, the WRHA, Shared Health and Southern Health-Santé Sud.