Workers with Métis, Michif child and family services agencies hit picket line

Tessa Adamski · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 2:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Workers with two Métis and Michif kid and household services agencies hit the picket enactment connected Tuesday, saying they're warring for wages successful enactment with different agencies successful Manitoba.

"We are warring for wage parity and unfortunately, astatine the bargaining table, we person yet to spot it. We cognize it's possible," Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union president Kyle Ross said astatine a picket enactment extracurricular the Métis Child and Family Services gathering connected Portage Avenue successful Winnipeg.

"Talking to these radical today, it's not wherever they privation to be."

Ross said the gap successful wages leads to high turnover complaint astatine the agencies, affecting the quality to physique relationships and spot with the children and families the agencies serve.

Workers are asking for a declaration akin to the four-year, 14 per cent wage summation MGEU members successful different civilian services got past year, Ross antecedently told CBC.

Social services, household support, youth attraction and administrative workers astatine the 2 agencies — Métis Child, Family and Community Services, and Michif Child and Family Services — voted for a onslaught mandate successful December and issued a two-week onslaught announcement earlier this month.

The contracts for 220 employees of the Winnipeg-area Métis Child, Family and Community Services, and 110 employees of Michif Child and Family Services, serving the Dauphin, The Pas and Brandon areas, expired connected Jan. 31, 2023.

Workers with a 3rd agency — Southeast Child and Family Services — had besides voted successful favour of onslaught action but reached a tentative statement connected Monday, helium said.

About 170 workers astatine Southeast Child and Family Services, which provides services to 8 First Nations successful southeastern Manitoba, person been without a declaration since March 31, 2022. A ratification ballot connected the tentative connection is planned for aboriginal this week, MGEU said successful a Monday update connected its website.

Since the two-week onslaught announcement was issued, immoderate advancement has been made for members astatine the Métis and Michif agencies, but determination hasn't been capable enactment connected wage parity with different authorities workers, Ross said.

"They bash the aforesaid work, they person the aforesaid education. It's truly important to america that they are treated arsenic adjacent arsenic the different radical who are paid who enactment successful government, who enactment for different agencies," he said. 

When asked, Ross did not accidental however galore children oregon families would beryllium affected by the constricted services offered nether the indispensable services statement successful spot during the onslaught action, but said helium hopes to get backmost to the bargaining array arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable to forestall immoderate further simplification successful care.

The union's wage concerns are compounded by layoffs successful the sector, said Ross.

Earlier this month, the Manitoba Métis Federation said fund constraints led to 60 radical being laid disconnected from the Métis Child and Family Services Authority — which includes some the Métis and Michif Child and Family Services — with a full of 100 to 150 unit astatine hazard of yet being fto go.

Ross called that a "heavy-handed" bargaining tactic. 

"We truly consciousness it's the leader trying to propulsion down connected these workers and trying to scare them into taking a little than perfect agreement," helium said. 

CBC has reached retired to the Manitoba Métis Federation for comment.