HEALTH CARE SUPPORT WORKERS
May 5, 2023
The new collective agreement ratified on September 23, 2022, which included three post ratification multi-union (CUPE and MGEU) committees. These committees have been meeting regularly since December of 2022. This is an update on a number of outstanding issues as follows:
1. Wage Standardization and Market Adjustment – This committee was dealing with classifications that are not standardized (same pay for the same classifications) and any classifications that are paid less than their “industry”. This is not for every classification: there is a small list of classifications that are being reviewed for market adjustments. This committee has been progressing. It has taken some time to gather all relevant information and we are very close to finalizing the standardization. Before we can discuss the market adjustments the classifications need to be standardized.

2. Pension and Benefits – For Home Care/Community group, CCMB and Thompson (former UFCW) long-term disability; and Riverview Health Centre for benefits only transitioning to HEB Manitoba.
The transition of the benefits and pension for the Home Care/Community group are actively being discussed. We are attempting to gather all relevant information from the MGEU Benefit and Pension Trust Fund. The benefit transition is easier than the pension plan. The current Home Care/Community Pension Plan is a defined contribution and the HEB plan is a defined benefit plan. The current contribution for the pension plan is approximately 4%, whereas HEB is approximately 9-10%. The Committee is working very hard to make sure members are not negatively affected by this pension transition. CUPE is being as thorough as possible to ensure the best outcome for members.

3. Recognition and Retention Bonus – This bonus is meant for the sites that were excluded from MOA#2 Redeployment Pay (COVID Pay). It is not COVID pay, but recognition for employees that stayed working in this challenging area. There is a small group of members that this money will apply to. The amount will not be a large amount per member, as the total fund is only 3 million dollars for CUPE. The committee is very close to finalizing the criteria and we hope to determine which members will receive the money and how much they will receive.
CUPE is committed to finalizing all of these post-ratification items and is working diligently to accomplish that. We also have a policy grievance filed against the employer for the delays and their inability to implement numerous items in the new collective agreement. Rest assured, CUPE is fighting for you every day to get this deal done so we can start negotiating more improvements for the next round of bargaining.

If you have any questions or comments, please send an email to healthcare@cupe.ca.

Sisters, Brothers, and Friends,

I am writing to provide you with an update on our We Work For Manitoba Defend Public Health Care campaign. The campaign, that was launched on December 13, 2022, has been featured in radio ads in 5 Manitoba regions and on 13 billboards across multiple communities in the province, in addition to an extensive presence through social media ads.

A direct link to the campaign can be found here: https://weworkformanitoba.ca/defendhealthcare

Since launching in December, the Defend Public Health Care campaign has had an unprecedented impact online:
• 7,069 letters/emails sent to MLAs, the Minister of Health, and Premier Stefanson, to date – 829 or ~11% submitted from CUPE members
• 3,651 emailable people (opted in to contact list) – 532 or ~14% are CUPE members
• 284,265 unique people have seen the Defend Public Health Care ads on social media
• The ads have been seen a total of 2,431,790 times

If your Local has not yet promoted the Defend Public Health Care email petition and campaign to your members, we are encouraging Health Care Local Presidents’ to do so by sending a message to members such as the following: More than 7,000 Manitobans have already signed the We Work for Manitoba email petition to Defend Public Health Care. Please join us, by adding your name and sharing a link to the campaign on your own social media and/or on your Local’s social media: https://weworkformanitoba.ca/defendhealthcare Thank you for helping amplify CUPE’s efforts to Defend Public Health Care in Manitoba!

Providing an update regarding what Payroll was able to implement this pay period on Jan 20^th, 2023

• CUPE meal premium increase from $7.00-$10.00 including the retro owing from September 23, 2022-Current
• Evening and Night premium increases including the retro going back to September 23, 2022-Current
• CUPE uniform Allowance increase (Retro for this has not yet occurred as this is a manual process)
• Retro payments for the Plan B top up for all CUPE & Non-Union employees
• Retro payments for the Pre-Retirement for 168 CUPE members (Not enough time to get them all in for this pay period)

HEALTH CARE BARGAINING UPDATE #21

No health care worker left behind

January 17, 2023

Your union, CUPE, has been hard at work fighting to hold the employer accountable for their side of the new collective agreement.

The new collective agreement came into force on September 23, 2022.  This means everything comes into effect on that date unless the Memorandum of Settlement (MOS) document says otherwise.  For example, the Health Spending Account (HSA) did not come into effect until January 1, 2023.

There are a few other items that have different effective dates as well.  Improvements like single day vacation, double overtime, meals during OT, etc. all came into effect on September 23, 2022.  However, not all the Employers have implemented all these new articles yet.  CUPE filed a grievance on this issue.  We also spoke to the media about our concerns with the Employers slow implementation of our new contract.

Keep track of anything that you should be entitled to such as double OT, and it will get adjusted retroactively.

Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC), Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) and Cadham Provincial Laboratory (CPL) have not officially transferred to the new collective agreement so the rules for these groups will not change until that transfer occurs.  You will be notified when that will take place.  AFM has transferred payroll system, however SMHC and CPL have not yet done the transfer, but we expect that to happen at the end of February 2023.  The transition of payroll does not mean that the transition to the CUPE collective agreement has occurred yet.  The collective agreements for these three sites only (SMHC, AFM and CPL) remain in place until further notice.

Retro pay for most sites has been paid.  For any groups that had a different expiry date or received increases in any of the years between 2017 and 2022 would have had their retro pay adjusted.  The retro pay for retired members will be paid soon.  CUPE had requested that the 90-day deadline to apply for retro pay be extended for former employees, but the Employer rejected our request.

SMc:cbc/cope 491

17-Jan-23

The first full Meetings of CUPE Manitoba’s Standing Committees (Issues-based committees only) have been scheduled in January. These meetings have been scheduled by staff committee liaisons in coordination with the members who participated in the committee welcome meetings in November.

We strongly encourage Local Affiliates and members to circulate, share, and post this notice in order to recruit and promote the renewal of these important Standing Committees in Manitoba.

At these meetings, participants will elect their Committee chairs and co-chairs and adopt their Terms of Reference. In accordance with CUPE Manitoba’s Bylaws & Policies, at least 30 days notice is being provided to Affiliates for these Standing Committee meetings and elections.

All Meetings will take place on Zoom (online)

Young Members – January 15th – 7:00 PM

Indigenous Council – January 19th – 6:30 PM

Political Action & Contracting Out – January 24 – 6:30 PM

Charitable Works – January 30th – 5:00 PM

Global Justice – January 31st – 5:00 PM

*** Dates for the Human Rights, Women’s & Gender Rights, Health & Safety, and Safer Spaces meetings have not been finalized and will be provided when scheduled, with at least 30 days notice.

To register, members should contact their Local President to become a delegate and email officeadmin@cupe.mb.ca with the committee name in subject line.

Canadian Union of Public Employees
Manitoba Division
November 8, 2022

TO: ALL LOCAL PRESIDENTS AND RECORDING SECRETARIES
RE: CUPE MANITOBA COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Greetings Sisters, Brothers, and Friends,
CUPE Manitoba is pleased to invite CUPE members from affiliated locals to attend November’s First Call for Committee Meetings. All interested members will be invited to attend, to learn about the committee, and to join this first virtual meeting following the 2022 Convention.
Committees play a vital role within our Union and labour movement in Manitoba, and work on implementing the many initiatives, strategies, and visions determined at each annual convention. The committees will meet virtually on Zoom.

November 23rd – 5:00pm – 7:00pm – (1) Meeting for Equity & Rights Committees: Women & Gender Rights, Indigenous Council, 2SLGBTQI+, Racialized Workers, Young Members, Persons with a Disability and Human Rights

November 24th – 5:00pm – 7:00pm – (1) Meeting each for: Political Action, Health & Safety

November 28th – 5:00pm – 7:00pm – Charitable Works

November 29th – 5:00pm – 7:00pm – Safer Spaces

November 30th – 5:00pm – 7:00pm – Global Justice

We have also included a CUPE Manitoba Committee Poster to distribute to your local membership list.

HEALTH CARE UPDATE

CUPE Health Care Support Staff Ratify Seven-Year Deal

September 23, 2022

CUPE Health Care Support Staff from CUPE 204/Shared Health and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA), CUPE 500/WRHA – Riverview Health Centre and WRHA Corporate, CUPE 4270/ Southern Health-Santé Sud (SH-SS), and CUPE 8600/Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) have voted to accept the new collective agreement. The ratification date is September 23, 2022.  The collective agreement will expire on March 31, 2024.

The new agreement includes wage increases in each year of the agreement including retroactive pay, a signing bonus for all members, an increase in shift premiums, improvements for the Community Programs/Home Care groups, a more flexible “single-day” vacation system for all members, double overtime and market adjustments.

“This was an incredibly difficult round of negotiations due to government interference, attempted wage freeze, disruptive restructuring, forced union amalgamations, and the pandemic,” said Shannon McAteer, CUPE Health Care Coordinator.  “Despite these challenges, this new agreement sets a solid foundation for the next round of negotiations.”

The employer has 120 days within which to issue retroactive pay and the signing bonus. It will be issued on a separate pay deposit.  Former employees (retired or quit) have 90 days to write to the employer requesting retroactive pay they are owed following the rules posted on the Local’s website.

“We thank all CUPE members who took the time to vote either electronically or in person and are committed to continue to improve your contract,” said McAteer. “We will continue to hold the provincial government accountable and push back against any attacks on our public health care system and the workers who support it”.

Throughout negotiations, health care support staff have felt extremely disrespected by the current government–and continue to feel undervalued. Many members told us they voted not because they liked the deal, but because they could not wait any longer.

In solidarity,
Your Bargaining Council