MPI workers could strike Monday if no settlement reached this weekend: MGEU

Unionized workers at Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) will walk off the job on Monday morning if no settlement is reached this weekend, their union says.

The strike would begin at 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 28, affecting approximately 1,700 workers represented by the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union (MGEU), a union news release says, adding both parties will continue bargaining over the weekend.

The strike notice comes after unionized workers rejected the employer's latest offer earlier this week.

The Crown corporation says the four-year proposal includes increases in monetary value of up to 17 per cent for some employees. It includes annual general wage increases of two per cent, a one per cent market adjustment on wages for about 75 per cent of union members, and a 3.5 per cent wage pump for employees when they reach the top of their pay grades, MPI said.

The offer also includes a proposal to go directly to arbitration on the issue of general wage increases, Ward Keith, MPI chairperson, said in an interview Friday.

Whatever offer the arbitrator comes up with would not be lower than MPI's last proposal, so those increases could be higher depending on what the arbitrator decides, he said.

"So from MPI's perspective, there's really no risk whatsoever, no downside to the MGEU proceeding with voluntary arbitration," he said.

Wage increases misleading: union

But MGEU saidthe17 per cent figure is misleading as it only applies to about half of unionized workers.

"If the offer on the table is really 17 per cent, our bargaining committee would already be taking it out to the members for a vote," MGEU president Kyle Ross said at a Friday afternoon news conference.

"The truth is that half of the members would only receive an increase of eight or nine per cent over four years. That is not a fair deal for our members and they don't like it."

Ross said the union is committed to bargaining up to the last minutethrough the weekend to avoid a strike.

"We'll bargain right up until the deadline at midnight on Sunday if we can avoid this. That's our goal, that's always our goal."

However, Keith said that at this point, MPI is not willing to return to the bargaining table on the issue of wage increases "because MPI has already offered an off-ramp to deal with that issue that is a fair and unbiased process" through arbitration.

Voluntary arbitration

When asked whyMGEU does not want to go into voluntaryarbitration, as MPI has proposed, the union said it prefers to have a contract negotiated by both sides, as opposed to one imposed by an arbitrator.

"A negotiated contract is endorsed by both the union and the employer, and most importantly, all members get to vote on it. Members have no vote when a contract is settled by arbitration," Ross stated in a written response to CBC News late Friday afternoon.

"It is also important to note that a negotiated contract can be voted on and implemented very quickly, while arbitration usually takes more than a year to resolve. After working a year under an expired contract, MGEU members shouldn't have to wait that long."

Contingency plans

Contingency plans are in place in the event of a strike, MPI said in a news release Friday.

Customer enquiries will be redirected to insurance brokers partnered with MPI, while MPI's contact centre will remain open for reporting personal injury, non-driveable collisionand total-theft claims, MPI said.

All other claims will be directed to MPI-accredited repair shops for vehicle estimates and repairs.

Driver tests and adjuster appointments will have to be rescheduled.

Essential services such as income replacement payments for personal injury claimants won't be interrupted.

The unionized MPI employees work at locations in Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Brandon, Dauphin, Thompson, The Pas, Arborg, Beausejour, Selkirk, Steinbach and Winkler. Their last contract expired in September 2022 and negotiations have been ongoing since then.