Discussions

I'm shocked to learn that still no one has posted anything about the MPI strike! Thoughts?

I think we are at the point now where the general public is getting tired of strikes especially in government entities. The public expects services and goods to be provided as required especially given that the public funds those services. We expect workers, unions and employers to figure it out, come to amicable agreements behind closed doors and get on with their work without disruption. The rest of us have to do so.

Just some over-paid entitled workers. Robots could replace their jobs.

But MGEU was posting they settled for a 2% raise. Which is still better than health care aides received, but no one wanted to strike there because who would take care of people otherwise ?

Just so we are all on the same page here, those are human beings. Those people have mortgages, bills, some have children and families and have gone to college to get an education, just like the rest of us.  
 
It really bothers me that just because someone works for the government, it makes it okay for them to be a target for unwarranted, and borderline abusive treatment.  
 
It's hard enough to make ends meet, then when they use the only means to get paid a fair wage, they are labeled as greedy, lazy, and entitled.  
 
It's the apathy towards our fellow members of the community, and the hatred we so easily dispense on social media and chat sites like this that makes me wonder how we are doing as a community, ad a society as a whole.

Very well said! I've been a civil servant for my whole career and I am very proud of the work that I have done and continue to do. It has provided me with stable employment, a good wage and benefits.

Public employees deserve to have a decent wage, job security, benefits, just like many other private employees.

Public employees get those things in abundance but still expect more.

Whatever!! You know nothing about being a public employee!!

He has no jnterest in learning anything about their work situation. He just has such a hate on for unions and civil servants, he wants only to spew his nonsense version of things.

Actuality I don’t hate civil servants. They are very important. However as their name suggests they are servants to the public that pays their wages, pension and benefit. They receive stable employment, a regular, good wage with benefits and good working conditions.  
What I do dislike is this entitled attitude to go on strike and or cause disruption. This is not the way to garner support from anyone or negotiate for improved work contracts, conditions or pay. It’s outdated and it’s not acceptable.

I fully support this MPI strike, so you cannot say this isn't the way to get the silupport of anyone.  
 
Given the ridiculous raises our Premier and her crew gave given themselves they darn well should be more generous with any civil servants who go out on strike this year. If it takes a strike to get some attention, more power to them.

It is acceptable, and necessary. Why don’t you do everyone a favor and sit this one out, ok?

Because I am paying their salary that’s why!  
 
Most private businesses wouldn’t stand for it and usually if an employee is unhappy in their work then they look for alternative employment.

You are still clueless as usual! It's quite obvious you don't like employees who stand up for their rights!! With your attitude, no one would want to work for you!!

Some private businesses are unionized, and they sometimes go on strike too.  
 
As for *you* paying wages of civil servants-sure, we all pay those wages. We also pay for a lot of other really stupid stuff which I resent more than paying for public servants.

“Clueless” will be how those employees feel when they are replaced and find themselves out of work.

running a business without employees!! And right now, employers are crying for good employees. And the good employees are the ones who will will be demanding better wages and benefits.  
 
It's quite obvious you think of employees as slaves. Who are there to serve their master and be treated like shit!! You seem to believe employees should have no rights.

News flash, my friend. Civil servants also pay for their own salaries via taxes. They have a vested interest in governments being fiscally responsible, and they don't get employee taxes!  
 
Once again, instead of putting the blame on exploitative employers and bad working conditions, you belittle the employees, both public and private sector, who try to improve wage and work conditions for everyone.

Most private businesses would exploit labour even further if they were able to, which is why over a hundred years ago people fought and died for the establishment of working rights. It is so haughty of you to be whining about the minor inconvenience of workers peacefully exercising their constitutionally protected rights. You never offer *any* solution to the structural employment issues this country is facing and you're stuck in a reaganomics mindset that's amplified by your lifelong practice of the dunning-kruger effect.  
 
You are either ignorant to history or have chosen to ignore it to justify your own lot in life. You know what I don't like? How this progressive conservative government in Manitoba has a 0% tax rate for small businesses under $600000 - the ONLY province to have a 0% tax rate. The elected officials are giving themselves better wages, better pensions and they are giving people who are supposed to be entrepreneurs a tax break while negotiating in bad faith in literally every negotiation they have been a part of for people who are keeping this province running. What's your business FarmerGeorge? How much social benefit does that provide to anybody bur yourself?  
I's not the unions thats the problem FarmerGeorge, it's clueless people like you who have forgotten what labour rights are and how far Canada has fallen behind progressive democracies. The 'alternative employment' for any sensible Canadian is not located in Canada because the parity of earnings has fallen so far behind, so enjoy the braindrain and having nobody competent to take care of you when you're older because they'll be working for themselves in another country. Hope you're working on your Hindu

if it wasn't for unions and labour code, employees would still have no rights. Standardized work schedules with hour limits and days off, vacation time, sick time all came from employees standing up for their rights.  
 
Most businesses and companies wouldn't exist and making a profit if it wasn't for employees. Much of that profit does tend to be the result of paying employees the least they can.  
 
MPI has been raking in profit from not just from our insurance premiums but from provincial funding.

MPI employees have not had raises in 4 years! They are way overdue for fair treatment !  
 
Edited by LJM, 2023-09-27 22:41:22

Go and ask an MPI employee what they make before deciding that they are overpaid. Go ahead and replace them with robots to deal with all of the crap they deal with on a daily basis being paid not enough to survive these days. The only overpaid ones are the ones telling them they don’t need a raise.  
 
People really need to stop posting on these discussions before they have actual facts.

JOIN THE CLUB. ALL WORKERS CANT KEEP UP. NOT JUST MPI!!!!!!!!  
 
MPI is just being greedy. 5 weeks and they denied two offers. This will be their third and final offer  
 
80% of their employees are working from home  
MOST are making good money. Not ALL but MOST

The offer by the province is more than fair. The difference in benefits is way more than fair. For those of you that say they haven't gotten a raise in 4 years, you also have to remember they all get retro-active payment as well!  
 
IMO, the strike should've never happened, but the MGEU has pressured them with multiple emails etc and everyone voted to strike. I believe the province is calling MGEU for a vote. IMO, it would be smart of MGEU to accept and more on from this.  
 
You have to remember there are people in other jobs that do not get 2% raise at all or if that. In this day in age, you compare was Stefanson cabinet got as 3.5% raise, great.. however, MPI is no where near the responsibility of the job and the cabinet.

Stefansen's pay is considerably higher than any pf the unionized MPI people are making. So, yes, that higher percentage times her rate of pay...is a sh-load of money. She could have taken a 1% increase and would still have been sitting pretty.

Why is it that people perceive public sector workers of being greedy every time they bargain for fair wages? We forget that in this province, most public sector units just came through 4 years of zero or near zero wage increases. Another 4 years or more of 2% means they just fall further behind the increased cost of living of the past and projected near future. They are not trying to get ahead. They are trying to begin to catch up. At 2% for the next 4 years, they will still be behind where inflation puts them today.  
 
By contrast, most private sector employers that we see in talks with their unions right now are offering well over 2% increases. Yes, this isn't representative of all private sector employers, but it shows how different our public sector employees are being treated compared to private sector unionized workers, who by the way typically did not just spend 4 years at zero.  
 
Please stop characterizing people who just want to be treated fairly as entitled. I have no problem with people feeling 'entitled' to fairness. But we all know that's not what people mean when they use the word entitled.

Yes thats true, however, you need to compare numbers by the position within their career. Like ive said the offer is more than fair. Most non union jobs you dont see a 2% increase in their yearly pay and never ever see better benefits package come the employees way. I would love to see those types of numbers in a private sector in a yearly basis.  
 
Anyway.. workers for MPI should be calling on MGEU to vote the last offer. I bet the workers will accept 100%.

“Most non union jobs you dont see a 2% increase in their yearly pay “  
 
I don’t believe that is true. But let’s say it is. According to the Bank of Canada, inflation from 2018 to 2023 now adds up to over 18%. Interest rates are higher than they have been in decades. Canadians are carrying more debt (mortgages and loans) than they have in decades. So if people are getting less than 2% wage increases annually, I’d say that’s the problem, not that some workers are trying to get fair increases, especially after years of zero or near zero (public sector) just when inflation and interest rates spiked.  
 
But what do wage increases actually look like in Canada? According to Statistics Canada, from 2010 to 2020 average hourly wages across the country, in all sectors, public and private, union and non-union, went from $23.01 to $31.35. That’s well above 2% per year. That means that workers who have gained less than 2% increases annually are below average, and based on these numbers, likely well in the minority. So using that as your reference, what you’re saying is that because a minority of people got well below fair increases, nobody else should be ‘entitled’ to bargain for higher increases that might begin to catch them up with inflation and the cost of their debt. Like I said above, to me, the problem is that some people aren’t rewarded fairly. But then that would take a radical intervention, like, I don’t know, unions or something.  
 
By contrast, profits in banking, groceries, oil and gas, etc (yes, these are the ‘big’ sectors) are breaking records. The CEOs and corporate directors are getting salary increases that are obscene. And by they way, they don’t actually do any of the ‘work’ of these companies – meaning actually producing the products and services. But those products and services generate the revenue that turns into profit. I thinks it’s reasonable for workers to deserve a fair share of the benefit that the CEOs and shareholders have gotten from those profits.  
 
Sure, not all employers are ‘rich’. But MPI isn’t broke. MLLC wasn’t broke. Yet the workers get dumped on for hoping to recover toward their inflation losses.  
 
There is no place in the world where low wages have been the path to prosperity for working people.

Let the MGEU members vote the last offer. They will accept it.