MGEU health system workers reach tentative deal after a year of bargaining

Provincial Health Labour Relations Services and the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Unionmembers from the professional/technical sector reached a tentative labour agreement after more than one year of bargaining.

The deal affects nearly 1,000 MGEU members from Prairie Mountain Health, Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority, and Southern Health-Sant Sud who work as home-care case co-ordinators, midwives, dieticians, social workers, mental health workersand audiologists, said MGEU president, Kyle Ross, in an emailed statement.

"MGEU technical/professional members have been working under an expired contract since 2018," Ross said.

"Last night, after more than a year at the bargaining table, employer representatives tabled a final offer and, on the basis that it contained further enhancements, a tentative agreement was reached."

The tentative deal is a six-year contract, with compounding general wage increases for each year starting April 1, 2018, Shared Health said in a release Friday.

It also includes retroactive pay for general wage increases and "other extensive monetary gains and non-monetary improvements to support recruitment, retention, career advancement and education, and staff wellness," Shared Health said.

MGEU will be bringing the agreement to members for a vote, Ross said.

"Details of the offer will be shared with members at meetings, which will be scheduled shortly," he added.