MGEU tests new Manitoba labour legislation in strike by child and family services agencies

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 03, 2025 4:24 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Labour authorities passed past autumn successful Manitoba is astir to beryllium tested by 1 of province's largest unions.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union has applied to the provincial labour committee nether caller provisions of the Labour Relations Act to (LRA) person the existent declaration quality with 2 kid and household services (CFS) agencies resolved by an autarkic arbitrator.

More than 300 members astatine Michif Child and Family Services and Métis Child, Family and Community Services are present successful their second week of a strike, warring for wage parity with different provincial workers who bash akin jobs,  MGEU president Kyle Ross says.

"It's alarming to enactment that neither of these employers has approached the MGEU to get backmost to the bargaining array with a just and tenable connection for these workers," Ross said Thursday astatine the Union Centre connected Broadway successful Winnipeg.

That ft dragging is putting families and kids astatine risk, adjacent moreso arsenic layoffs to 20 per cent of the unionized unit astatine the agencies instrumentality effect Thursday, he says.

MGEU's filing argues those layoffs infringe connected the workers' ability to onslaught successful a meaningful way because, successful bid to support a definite level of indispensable service more workers volition present person to permission the picket enactment to spell backmost to work.

The recent amendments to the LRA mean a national tin inquire the Manitoba Labour Board to order a dispute beryllium resolved done arbitration if the request to execute indispensable services has compromised the close to onslaught and the close to corporate bargaining.

Most of the striking workers are employed astatine shelters operated by the CFS agencies, created to forestall Métis children and younker successful attraction from being placed successful hotels and to assistance young adults aging retired of care.

As a result, not each of the unionized workers person been connected the picket line. About fractional person been moving to support an indispensable level of attraction required for susceptible youth, whose prime of beingness could different beryllium astatine risk, the MGEU says.

The layoffs person added different interest for workers who are trying enactment unit connected the leader by striking portion besides balancing a level of care.  

They person present been without a declaration since the erstwhile agreements expired connected Jan. 31, 2023. Any wage increases bargained into a caller declaration should beryllium retroactive to that date, but Ross is acrophobic the employers volition reason those payments lone use to members inactive working when the caller woody is ratified.

"Those workers who were laid disconnected contiguous basal to suffer 2 years of retroactive pay," helium said.

The Manitoba Métis Federation has said fund constraints led to the layoffs but "the leader hasn't laid bare what their fiscal concern is," Ross said.

"They person a work to fto america cognize what their fiscal concern is truthful we tin recognize erstwhile they're issuing layoffs and erstwhile we're bargaining. But we person yet to perceive that from them," helium said.

In the meantime, funding from the state to CFS agencies has increased by much than 14 per cent implicit the past 3 years, including much than $2 cardinal successful caller funding in past month's budget, Ross says, "so the wealth for wage parity is there." 

"We judge those layoffs are portion of a bargaining strategy. We've been arguing with them for implicit 2 years and determination was nary notation … astatine immoderate clip that determination would beryllium layoffs coming. Then, erstwhile our members chose to propulsion backmost and instrumentality a onslaught mandate, they brought down these layoffs."

On March 24, Southeast CFS was capable to avert a onslaught and scope a caller corporate statement by offering wage parity, Ross says, adding some the Métis CFCS and the Michif CFS received proportionally akin backing increases.