Manitoba midwives hold information picket outside Winnipeg Birth Centre
CBC News | Posted: February 4, 2016 1:50 PM | Last Updated: February 4, 2016
CUPE representative says province not providing adequate compensation for midwives
Manitoba midwives are holding an information picket outside Winnipeg's Birth Centre on Thursday morning.
They want to raise awareness about the state of midwifery in Manitoba, says a news release from CUPE Local 2348, which represents about 30 midwives working in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
Between 30 and 40 people picketed to show their support on Thursday, including mom Becky Boock holding her baby Lou Fitz, who wore a sign that said, "Midwife helped me out."
Between 30 and 40 people picketed to show their support on Thursday, including mom Becky Boock holding her baby Lou Fitz, who wore a sign that said, "Midwife helped me out."
Boock said she felt supported by a midwife both before and after the birth of her daughter.
"If you need a midwife at your house at four in the morning a midwife will be at your house. I don't think there's any other service quite like that in terms of women's health," she said.
"Living 50 per cent of their lives on call, I don't think they're fairly compensated."
While members of the union are pleased with increased government funding for midwifery training, a CUPE representative said the province is not providing adequate compensation for midwives.
"We need to deal with recruitment and retention issues," said CUPE national representative Sheree Capar.
"The best way to do that is to have competitive wages, so we don't lose our midwives to other provinces or professions."
The union has held a number of meetings with a provincial conciliation officer to try to reach a fair deal with their employer, the news release says.
"We're wanting to raise awareness about the good services that midwives provide to our health-care system and that they're really worth a long-term investment for government," Capar said.
"I don't believe that we're being compensated equitably within the health-care system and that's what midwives are looking for … Some equity within their compensation package."
Capar notes that Manitoba midwives are "five to 10 dollars an hour or $20,000 a year behind" midwives in western Canada.
Midwives voted 91 per cent in favour of a strike mandate in January, which lead to Thursday's picket. It started at 7 a.m. and is expected to go until 9 a.m.
"We want to give the employer one last push to deliver a fair contract for Manitoba's midwives."
The collective agreement for Manitoba midwives expired on March 31, 2014. Currently, 50 midwives work in Manitoba, and 30 of them are in Winnipeg.