MGEU health-care workers vote to reject new collective agreement

Health-care support workers in Prairie Mountain Health and Interlake-Eastern Health Authority have voted to reject their employer's latest offer on a new collective agreement. 

The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union has approved a strike mandate and is requesting to return to the bargaining table with employers "as soon as possible," a news release said on Thursday. 

The voting period for the new contract began on Tuesday and closed at noon on Thursday. 

A spokesperson for MGEU, which represents 6,500 members at the two health authorities, said the union does not release the result of the vote breakdown, but "it wasn't even close."

MGEU President Kyle Ross said health-care workers in the province have the lowest pay in Canada, with the starting wage for many of these jobs at $17.07 per hour. 

"Without a fair contract that recruits and retains dedicated support workers, Manitoba's health-care system will continue to struggle with critical staffing shortages," Ross said in the release. 

He said MGEU is asking the employer for a contract that makes health-care jobs — such as health-care aids, laundry aides and maintenance and clerical staff — competitive and helps grow the workforce.  

The union has not set an official strike date, but it is preparing for the possibility that taking job action may occur. 

Ross previously told CBC the employers' latest offer, while following the same annual wage increase formula that nurses and teachers received, doesn't have the same "goodies" nurses got. He declined to elaborate because they're still at the bargaining table.

In the latest offer, wages are slated to increase 2.5 per cent in the first year, 2.75 per cent in the second year and three per cent in each of the final two years of the deal. 

The last contract expired March 31, 2024.