MGEU ponders rotating and targeted strikes as 17,000 workers seek new contracts

One of the largest unions in Manitoba is raising the prospect of rotating and targeted strikes as a means of leveraging more lucrative labour deals from the province and its Crown corporations.

By the end of March, more than 17,000 members of the 30,000-worker Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union will see their collective bargaining agreements expire.

In a letter to its members, the union is asking them to support "strong strike mandates" this spring to help convince its employers to approve wage increases that keep pace with inflation.

To sweeten the pot, the union plans to increase weekly strike pay from $300 to $500 and to allow members to collect that money even when they take part in limited strike action.

"Employers take our union much more seriously at the bargaining table when they believe thousands of members are willing to fight for their proposals, and for union members like us, fighting means taking disruptive job action if and when required," reads an undated letter in advance of a virtual union meeting slated for Friday.

MGEU leaders say if strike action is necessary, they hope to replicate rotating-strike tactics employed by their counterparts in B.C. In Manitoba, that could translate into temporary stoppages of liquor sales, public insurance services and classes at some universities, among other services.

MGEU president Kyle Ross said the goal is to make strike action more palatable.

"It's always a last resort. It's not where we want to go. Nobody wants to be on strike, no employer wants their employees on strike," Ross said Thursday in an interview.

"But we're giving our members the tools. We're upping our strike pay, we're adding the ability to do targeted strikes so we can actually make a difference because we learned from watching other unions across this country."

Ross said the potential use of tougher collective action is not intended to add extra pressure on Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government, which faces an election slated for Oct. 3.

He said the stakes are higher because the cost of living has risen so much in recent years.

"Our members are looking to catch up and keep up. They're feeling the inflationary pressure. Their dollars aren't going as far as they used to," he said.

Manitoba Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister James Teitsma said in a statement his government hopes to reach labour deals with its largest union.

"We look forward to continued discussions with the MGEU and are optimistic that we can work together to negotiate collective agreements that are fair to both sides, and which will keep the union's members on the job providing Manitobans with the wide range of services they count on, as they have for decades," the statement read.

A number of MGEU bargaining units are either entering contract talks or will soon be engaged in the process.

A four-year contract between the province and about 11,000 civil service workers expires in March. The two sides have started exchanging proposals, MGEU spokesperson Jodee Mason said.

As well, 1,716 employees of Manitoba Public Insurance have been without a contract since September 2022, while 1,780 provincial liquor workers saw their contract expire in March 2022, Mason said.

Another 2,636 employees of four post-secondary institutions — Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, University College of the North in Thompson and Winnipeg's St. Boniface College and Red River College Polytechnic — are in the midst of contract negotiations, Mason said.

While MGEU is the largest provincial public-sector union in Manitoba, the Canadian Union of Public Employees is the largest public-sector union overall. CUPE Manitoba represents approximately 37,000 workers.