Manitoba health-care support workers to get 27 per cent raise under new contract

Some 25,000 health-care support workers have ratified a new collective agreement, averting a strike.

The two unions involved say the four-year deal includes average wage increases of 27 per cent and higher starting wages for high-vacancy positions.

The workers were set to walk off the job, while continuing to provide essential services, on Oct. 8.

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But hours before the deadline, negotiators reached a tentative deal that was later voted on by union members.

A walkout by the workers, who include health-care aides, laundry workers and support staff in hospitals and personal care homes, threatened to delay services in many parts of the province.

Gord Delbridge, with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, says the new deal will help recruit and retain workers in a field where staffing has been a challenge.