'A chill has been cast': Government meddling in bargaining called alarming

A Canadian think tank says the Manitoba government's meddling in collective bargaining talks should be alarming to the public and unions.

"There seems to be this pattern of interference in collectivebargaining emerging, and this is very worrisomefor the labour community," saidLynne Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, an independent think tank that, although non-partisan, has been described as left-leaning.

"We've had almost 20 years of relative labour peace in this province, and it seems now that a chill has been cast and there's definitely a new tone."

The Progressive Conservative governmentelected in Aprilcampaigned on getting provincial spending under control, blaming the previous NDP administration for Manitoba's deepening deficit.

• Manitoba's 'alarming' deficit soars above $1B

But Fernandez said numbers given out by Manitoba's finance minister are never put in thecontext of the size of Manitoba's economy. You have to look at how much of the government's income must be used to serve the debt, she said.

In 2015-16, just 5.7 per cent of the government's income wasspent on paying off the debt, which is not overwhelming, she said.

"Paying for debt only costs us really $1 out of every $20," Fernandez said.

Nevertheless, the province is using that to interfere in bargaining between public sector employers and their staff, she said.

She referred specifically to thejoint statement released last week byUniversity of Manitoba Faculty Association president Mark Hudson and U of M president DavidBarnard.

It was released last Friday as the two sides engaged inbargaining discussions, which eventually failed, leading to the beginning of strike action on Tuesday.

• U of M strike starts with pickets up Tuesday morning

Both sides took exception to the province's request that existing contracts be extended an additional year with a zero per cent wage increase.

"The University of Manitoba is indeed challenged by these circumstances coming at the end of what has been a difficult but advancing series of discussions since March 2016," Barnard's statement said.

Hudson took a harder stance, calling it "illegitimate government interference in a constitutionally protected process of collective bargaining."

• Union calls for 'emergency meeting' after U of M calls out government on 'illegitimate interference'

"For the employer and the staff the professors to issue a joint statement such as this, I find that, in my knowledge, to be unprecedented," Fernandez said.

Manitobans should be concerned the university "is being told how to run its affairs," she said, noting the university is the largest employer in the province, outside of the government itself.

"It's an institution with a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars and an army of administrators that is perfectly capable of negotiating a collective agreement," Fernandez said.

• False promises from NDP to blame for Macdonald Youth Services strike, province says

Shenoted another example from August, whenyouth crisis workers with Macdonald Youth Serviceswent on strike.Although the employer was "ready, willing and able" to offer an increase in salary to its employees, the province told them they couldn't do it,she said.

ThePallistergovernment blamed the previous NDP government for making fiscally unsustainable promises.

Allpublic sector unions should see this trend as "alarming" iftheir collective bargaining agreements are coming up for renewal, Fernandez said.