May 19, 2022
You may have seen the news that the Manitoba Government and General
Employees’ Union (MGEU) Civil Service members recently received an
arbitration award related to their contract. This is great news for those
workers.
The MGEU represents the employees of the Civil Service. They have been
in negotiations and went to binding arbitration. The arbitrator has issued
the award for that specific collective agreement. The MGEU Government
Employees’ Master Agreement (GEMA) is not their health care agreement.
Like us, the MGEU health care members are still in negotiations.
There are two units within CUPE 204 that are covered by the GEMA
collective agreement: Selkirk Mental Health Centre and Cadham Provincial
Laboratory which recently transferred from the Province of Manitoba to
Shared Health. The members transferred from MGEU to CUPE in April of
2022 but remain under their current collective agreement and are not part
of the current negotiations for health care.
We are pleased that unions, including CUPE at many negotiating tables,
have successfully pushed back against the provincial government’s
attempts at freezing wages. When we all work together and support each
other, we can only be stronger.
CUPE is currently in mediation for the health care collective agreements
and will continue to provide updates for members.
SHANNON McATEER
CUPE HEALTH CARE COORDINATOR