New health-care contract will lift wages 27% over 4 years, unions say

A union representing Manitoba health-care workers says the new deal reachedwith the province and voted for by members isa result of health-care workers who made sure no one was left behind.

"This was a health-care deal all of our members could be proud of," said Gina McKay, president of CUPE Manitoba.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees andManitoba Government and General Employees' Union (MGEU) workers in Prairie Mountain Health and Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority voted in favour of the deal negotiated Oct. 8, which brings raises totalling an average of 27 per cent over the four-year contract, after rejecting an earlier contract offer.Theratification vote ended Friday at noon.

CUPEsigned thenew collective agreement on behalf of around 19,000 health-care support workers Friday morning, with employers represented by the Provincial Health Labour Relations Secretariat.

The union memberscovered by the agreementincludehome care workers, health-care aides, laundry aides, housekeeping aides, dietary aides, ward clerks and recreation co-ordinators at hospitals, health-care centres and personal care homes.

General wage increases in 2024 for all employees under the agreement willbegin at 2.5 per centplus a one per centmarket adjustment, a CUPE news release said Friday.

That will be followed bygeneral increases of 2.75 per cent in 2025, and three per cent in both 2026 and 2027.

"This brings health-care workers from dead last in the countryto middle of the pack or better," McKay said.

The agreement also increases the starting wage for high-vacancy positions.

Margaret Schroeder,CUPELocal 204 president, said the deal addresses retention and recruitment issues, adds more sick time and wellness daysand eliminates unpaid scheduled hours in home care.

"It's clear that this is a new day for health-care workers in Manitoba," Schroeder said.

Those workers include community and facility support workers at Shared Health Manitoba, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Prairie Mountain Health and the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority, and community support workers in the Southern Health region.

Schroeder said the union will be watching to see whether the new deal results in health-care vacancies filled and worker burnout reduced, and will be the first to "ring the alarm bells" if this deal doesn't fulfilthose goals.

"Butwe think this is a strong start in the right direction," Schroeder said.

The deal was reached in the early morning hours of the day the union was scheduled to go on strike. It averted a strike that would have reduced work by the approximately 25,000 workers to essential services only, with those who rely on services such as home care warned about impendingreduced care.