Manitoba government privatizing seasonal road work

Dozens of Manitoba Infrastructure seasonal employees are expected to be out of a job once the construction season resumes.

The provincial government is privatizing the maintenance road work that 47 employees were responsible for last year, says a notice sent to the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union last month. They do chip sealing, rout and seal operations, pavement marking and asphalt cold mixing.

It's too early to say exactly how many positions will be affected, provincial officials said, since this year's budget has not been finalized. The Special Operations Department has "well over 100" employees.

Robert Stirling, who drove an oil distributor truck for the Winnipeg seal coat crew, is disappointed the rumours of his job's privatization were more than mere speculation.

"It sucks because I just bought a house and now I've got to get another job, when I thought I was secure with this job," he said.

Stirling was told the work of the Winnipeg seal coat team, the Dauphin paint crew and one member of the rout and seal crews would be contracted out, which follows last year's termination of the Brandon seal coat crew. There were around 30 people on his crew, he estimated.

The government did not say how many Special Operations units would be cut or which ones. 

Private contractors capable: government

"The work in question was being done by seasonal employees who were being hired on an as-needed basis. Over the past number of years, under both the NDP and our government, this work has been done increasingly by private contractors," Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler said in a statement. 

"Contractors in the industry are ready and willing to do this work, and we look forward to working with the industry to ensure this work is done in an efficient and cost-effective way." 

Stirling said he never gave much thought to the rumblings his labour was subject to privatization. 

"I thought it was just hearsay," he said. 

"They've been saying this for years … so I never paid no attention to it."

That changed last year, when he noticed work once carried out by the Brandon seal coat crew had been turned over to private contractors. 

"I kept on saying it. I could see it coming, and then sure enough."

MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky said the layoffs unfortunately may be a sign of the times.

The Progressive Conservative government promised to chop 1,200 jobs from the civil service, mainly through attrition, but has been prevented from laying off workers by a stipulation in the province's collective agreement with the civil service.

The no-layoff clause, however, expires on March 29, when the government's agreement with the public sector lapses.

"There's not going to be any more meaningful checks and balances on the premier's agenda of cuts and privatization," Gawronsky said.

It's all of us grunt workers, basically, that are going to be losing [our jobs]- Seasonal employee Robert Stirling

Union officials say they know of around 150 government jobs that will be chopped through privatization, including about 50 each in Special Operations and Manitoba Government Air Services, 30 positions at the provincially run tree nursery near Hadashville, eight jobs in French Translation Services and up to 11 positions in the government's Real Estate Services Division.

Public interest not at heart: MGEU

Gawronsky worries the move to privatization will worsen the quality of the province's highways because private companies are driven by their bottom line.

Stirling doesn't imagine any efficiencies will be found through private contractors. 

His crew finished ahead of schedule this past year, and did a better job than their counterparts, he said.

"They put down so much oil [on the roads] that you were driving through it and it would spring up on all the cars."

Stirling was told that affected employees would receive a letter in the mail confirming the elimination of their positions.

"It's all the higher-ups that are secure.… They got their jobs, and then it's all of us grunt workers, basically, that are going to be losing it."

Stirling said he did not buy Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler's argument, published in a CBC story last fall, that road work in eastern Manitoba was being delayed because the government couldn't find enough people to fill vacant roles. The province is choosing to leave positions unfilled, he said.

"It sucks, but what can you do?" Stirling said. "Don't trust the government."