Several Crown corporations help pay for transport to downtown offices
Monthly allowance offered to some Crown corporation employees, while others offered transit subsidies
Manitoba Hydro workers at the company's downtown headquarters are not the only public employees to get a benefit for working in the city centre.
Manitoba Public Insurance employees receive a monthly allowance, while staff at Travel Manitoba and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries get discounts on bus passes.
More than 1,000 Manitoba Public Insurance workers receive a $50 monthly allowance for working downtown.
"The allowance is to assist with downtown costs which are not associated with other, non-downtown MPI locations," MPI spokesperson Brian Smiley told CBC News in an email.
CBC News reported earlier this week that more than 1,600 staff at the Manitoba Hydro headquarters on Portage Avenue receive a $840 yearly benefit for working downtown.
According to Smiley, the allowance for MPI workers was put in place in October 2014 and was based on negotiations with the Manitoba Government Employees Union (MGEU) in 2013.
That means any cost-cutting at the Crown corporation aimed at cutting the allowance would have to agreed upon with the union.
"The parking allowance was introduced through collective bargaining and cannot be rescinded unilaterally," Smiley wrote.
Others choose transit subsidies
Travel Manitoba offers an EcoPass program to its downtown-based staff.
"This allows the employee to purchase a monthly bus pass for $22.15, which is 75 per cent off the regular price. Travel Manitoba pays the difference for each employee's pass," said Linda Whitfield, the vice president, of marketing & communications for the crown corporation.
Whitfield says 20 of 33 eligible employees take advantage of the EcoPass offer.
All employees at Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries get a deal on a bus pass, no matter where they work in the city. According to a spokesperson, employees can receive a 30 per cent rebate after purchasing a Peggo Card monthly bus pass from Winnipeg Transit. MLL staff must fill out a form and present a receipt for the bus pass before getting the subsidy.