Manitoba public service union ridicules premier's 'draw the line' video

A video posted to social media by Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson has prompted ridicule from the province's largest public service union.

In a video posted Monday to Facebook and Instagram, the premier accused the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union of playing politics because two of its bargaining units rejected contract offers and went on strike this summer.

"I'd like to say yes to everything, but sometimes the answer has to be no," Stefanson said in the video, referring to wage increases requested by employees with two provincial Crown corporations.

A five-week strike by unionized workers with Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries ended Sunday when workers approved a new deal by a margin the union has declined to disclose.

Manitoba Public Insurance employees, also represented by MGEU, went on strike the following morning.

Stefanson accused MGEU president Kyle Ross of engaging in a political act by seeking strike mandates over the wage increases offered by two Crown corporations.

"The same union leader said no to fair raises and binding arbitration because of politics, and worse, they're demanding increases double the size of health-care workers. That's where I draw the line," Stefanson said in the video.

On Tuesday, Ross called Stefanson's video amusing because the premier previously insisted she played no role in labour negotiations.

"For the past five weeks, every time we said the premier [refused wage increases], she continued to say it wasn't her, she wasn't involved, she had nothing to do with it. All of a sudden she's telling us she said no," Ross told reporters at a meeting space at Winnipeg's Union Centre.

Ross, a former MPI employee, claimed Manitoba's government handed a mandate to its Crown corporations, demanding they limit wage increases.

Ross could not produce a mandate letter pertaining to recent labour negotiations. Instead, he produced a November 2020 letter sent to MPI executives from former PC finance minister Scott Fielding and then-Crown Services minister Jeff Wharton, who requested zero-per-cent wage increases during the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In that letter, Wharton and Fielding told MPI leaders, "You will appreciate that setting broad monetary collective bargaining mandates for employers within the public sector reflects government's traditional role — spanning several decades — as the overall steward of public funds."

On Sunday, Liquor & Lotteries employees voted in favour a four-year contract that calls for wage hikes that work out to 2.95 per cent, per year. Those wage increases were only 0.55 percentage points below the union's stated target.

This result led Ross to poke fun at Stefanson's statement about drawing a line.

"Obviously, the line wasn't set in stone or drawn in the sand. It must have washed away, because honestly we proved that their mandate wasn't set in stone," he quipped.

Stefanson declined further comment. Cam Eason, a PC campaign spokesperson, said the video posted Monday speaks for itself.