Manitoba health-care support staff vote in favour of strike

WINNIPEG — Health-care support staff in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA), Shared Health, Northern Regional Health Authority and Southern Health-Santé Sud have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union that represents the workers, the fact that these workers have been putting their lives at risk during the pandemic is not being recognized at the bargaining table.

“Right now, Manitoba has 18,000 health-care support staff who are exhausted and who feel disrespected by the government, despite being lauded as heroes,” said Debbie Boissonneault, President of CUPE 204, in a news release from Aug. 25.

“This is both an overwhelming mandate, and a scathing review of government’s inability to recognize health-care workers.”

Province-wide CUPE health-care workers voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike. However, when broken down by region the results are:

“It’s time for the provincial government to show leadership and recognize the sacrifice that health-care support workers have been making and immediately make settling health-care contracts a priority,” said Christine Lussier, president of CUPE 8600.

CUPE told CTV News Winnipeg they are still at the bargaining table and no strike date has been set. The union said they want the same deal the nurses got but are being offered less.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Shared Health said they are committed to negotiating a fair and long-term collective agreement for Manitoba’s health-care support staff.

“Unlike the status of ongoing negotiations with the Manitoba Nurses Union, the regular health care bargaining pattern means that negotiations with CUPE are still in early stages, with both sides continuing to work diligently through the comprehensive proposals associated with merging more than 100 collective agreements into just eight,” the statement said.

“We look forward to continuing this extensive collaborative work in the days ahead on shared goals that achieve the security of a fair agreement while addressing the needs of all Manitobans who rely on our health care system.

Required essential service agreements are part of the ongoing negotiations to guarantee continue staff coverage and care in any scenario so any operational impacts are minimal.”