City of Winnipeg and its largest union agree to talk about expanding definition of 'essential worker'

The City of Winnipeg and its largest union say they're willing to work out a deal to broaden the definition of an essential city worker — and in effect, determine who won't have the right to strike.

On Tuesday, city council's executive policy committee voted unanimously to put off a plan to ask the provincial government to legislate a broader definition of an essential municipal worker.

Right now, only Winnipeg police, paramedics and firefighters are considered essential and do not have the right to strike.

In a report to EPC, Winnipeg deputy chief administrative officer Moira Geer advised council to see whether city workers in charge of water treatment, sewage treatment, flood protection, information technology and emergency repairs, among other categories, should be declared essential.

This followed several failed attempts at defining essential workers during the fall of 2022, when labour negotiations between the city and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 soured to the point 5,000 workers were preparing to go on strike.

"During recent collective agreement negotiations, the public service made several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate an essential services agreement with CUPE Local 500," Geer wrote in her report.

This prompted an angry response from labour leaders, several of whom appeared before EPC to accuse council of attacking constitutionally enshrined collective-bargaining rights.

"Not getting the deal you wanted last round is no excuse to legislate it into the next round," Canadian Labour Congress representative Bernie Wood told EPC.

"I appreciate that your administration had dropped the ball and let the city get to the brink of a strike without an essential services agreement, but frankly, the senior administration probably deserves to lose their jobs for that."

Both Mayor Scott Gillingham and Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) cautioned Wood to dial back his rhetoric.

Michael Jack, Winnipeg's chief administrative officer, dismissed Wood's charge as a falsehood.

"We really attempted everything we could at the bargaining table to have this discussion, to introduce essential services, to introduce the agreement. CUPE was not having any of it," he said during a break in the meeting.

'Just reach out to us': union president

The tension in the council chamber soon dissipated, as CUPE 500 president Gord Delbridge told EPC he was willing to hold new talks about essential workers.

"What you do is you just reach out to us. We enter into a memorandum of agreement prior to going into bargaining. It's a legally binding agreement. There will be no legal challenges," Delbridge told EPC.

EPC then voted unanimously to put off until September any vote on Geer's suggestion to speak to the province, providing months for the city and the union to hold talks.

Gillingham said he is confident both sides can reach a deal over the summer. The delay, however, is academic: No new legislation can be introduced at the Manitoba Legislature until after the forthcoming provincial election, which is slated for Oct. 3.