Manitoba’s largest union is pleased to see the NDP government’s Budget 2025 take new steps to strengthen public services as part of the province’s fiscal plan to meet the moment in Manitoba. This budget serves as a clear contrast to the cuts to programs and services in the United States.
“The Manitoba government is making a choice, and that is to stand with the province’s public services and the workers who provide them,” said Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba. “Continued investments in health care, child care, and social services mean more Manitobans will have access to support during these challenging times”.
CUPE Manitoba applauds the government for staying the course on fixing health care with additional funding to address the staffing crisis, including: 100 new health care aides in northern Manitoba, putting shovels in the ground for new ERs, adding fully staffed beds across the system, and providing improved training to Institutional Safety Officers. This support is in addition to historic wage increases to Manitoba health care support workers.
“We have seen big progress on health care over the last year, but the work isn’t done,” warns McKay. “We are pleased to see continued increases in staffing levels and keeping everyone safe during their time in health care facilities”.
The Manitoba government’s investment in the Women’s Health Clinic and enforcement of a woman’s right to choose provides a clear contrast to the dangerous direction taken in the USA.
Strengthening public child care is also a critical part of building a robust economy, argues CUPE. Investments in accessible public child care spaces with stable, good-paying jobs mean more Manitoban parents can access the job market.
“We’ve already seen the government explore building child care centres attached to schools,” says McKay. “We hope that these new child care spaces are fully public, rather than carved out to independent organizations”.
CUPE Manitoba notes the new funding for Child and Family Services and expects these dollars will support wages and benefits for the support staff who work tirelessly to provide care.
CUPE supports the government’s decision to build 11 new schools under the traditional funding model, and hopes they bring the same approach to their municipal and hydro infrastructure needs.
“We know P3s are wrong for Manitoba, so as the government focuses in on capital projects, we expect that P3s are rejected across the board,” said McKay.
The government’s new “Buy Manitoba” procurement and review policy should help insulate public services from the threat of privatization and outsourcing and could serve as a platform to bring work back in-house where it was contracted out to American or multinational firms, some of which donate directly to Republican lawmakers.
CUPE Manitoba applauds the funding increases provided to the City of Winnipeg and other municipalities, including 4% of gas tax revenue for the One Manitoba Growth Fund dedicated to recreation facilities, parks, and public transportation. This will ensure critical upgrades to public recreation facilities and support the workers who staff them.
“These major investments to our municipalities mean that we can finally see real supports for municipal services and the workers who provide them,” said McKay.
Major investments in Manitoba Hydro are also critical to ensure our power grid can address growing demand while remaining fully public.
“We are pleased that the government understands the value of good, unionized jobs for infrastructure projects, and expect that operations of new wind projects will also be provided publicly by workers protected by union contracts,” says McKay.
CUPE is very interested in the government’s re-establishment of Manitoba Hydro Telecom, which could be expanded to provide public high-speed internet services across the province; an excellent made-in-Manitoba solution to prevent companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink from taking a foothold in Manitoba.
“Manitobans pay way too much for internet services,” notes McKay. “Exploring publicly provided internet using the Hydro infrastructure that’s already publicly owned could be a bold move to reduce internet costs for Manitobans”.
In all, Budget 2025 offers an exciting new path that strengthens good Manitoba jobs, while presenting opportunities to ensure new capital projects are publicly owned and operated.