Health care support workers in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (community and facility support), Shared Health (community and facility support) and Southern Health Santé-Sud (community support) have rejected a proposed tentative agreement and have authorized strike action.
“Health care support workers go all-in every day providing health care to Manitobans,” said Margaret Schroeder, President of CUPE 204 representing approximately 16,000 support staff at Shared Health and the WRHA. “We are going all-in for health care, and we need the government to go all-in for health care too; that is the message we are bringing back to the bargaining table”.
“What we’re hearing from front-line health care support workers is that they’ve been falling behind for too long,” said Holly Chaperon, President of CUPE 4270 representing support workers at Southern Health Santé-Sud.
“If there was ever a time for government to fix health care, now is the chance for them to go all-in and do it,” added Limson Mestito, President of CUPE 500’s Riverview Health Centre Unit.
The previous collective agreement expired March 31, 2024.
CUPE will return to the negotiating table for the WRHA (including Riverview Health Centre), Shared Health, and Southern Health Santé-Sud. Facility support staff in Southern Health Santé-Sud voted to ratify their collective agreement. A strike deadline has not been set.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union representing more than 740,000 members. In Manitoba, CUPE represents approximately 37,000 members working in health care facilities, personal care homes, home care, school divisions, municipal services, social services, child care centres, public utilities, libraries, and family emergency services.