MPI employees on strike

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This article was published 04/09/2023 (619 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Members from the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union employed at Manitoba Public Insurance are on strike following a rejection of a government offer to increase wages.

“Contrary to public statements once again being made by MGEU leadership, MPI’s enhanced offer is worth up to 17 per cent in total monetary value,” said MPI chairperson Ward Keith. “This includes general wage increases, a significant new permanent pay step increase of 3.5 per cent, a special wage adjustment for operations staff, a lump-sum signing bonus, and other benefit enhancements for MPI employees and their families. MGEU leadership can continue attempting to spin these numbers to confuse Manitobans, but facts are facts.”

The MGEU members voted to reject the government’s offer of a wage increase of two percent a year for four years; 3.5 percent increase for new permanent wage step added to all pay ranges for unionized employees; one percent market adjustment for operations employees; a one-time lump sum signing bonus of $1,800; and 1.7 percent increase on expanded benefit enhancements on an average salary.

“We are disappointed that the government and the corporation have once again made misleading and disingenuous statements about their offer. Their claim that they have offered up to 17 percent grossly inflates their actual offer by including non-wage items, one-time payments and other increases that flow only to some members. The reality is that their offer would provide half of these members with wage increases of just two percent per year. That’s not fair for working families trying to make ends meet these days. If the government had actually offered wage increases of 17 percent, our bargaining committee would already be recommending the offer to members,” said MGEU president Kyle Ross.

MGEU released a list of wage increases between the years of 2020-2022 which shows no increases for MPI workers, but an increase of 3.6 percent for the Premier, her cabinet, and MLAs. It also shows a 7.9 percent wage increase for MPI’s CEO and a 6 percent increase for MPI’s vice-president and CFO. MPI brokers received 7.5 percent increase in commissions and repair shops saw a 6.7 percent increase in compensation.

“Clearly, the Premier is happy to say yes to higher pay increases for herself and her cabinet, and she’s equally happy to say yes to senior executives at MPI, to private brokers, and to repair shops,” said Ross. “But why is she so focused on saying no to front line MPI workers. Why the double standard?”

Official strike action started on Monday with about 1,700 MPI employees walking out across the province. Employees have been without a contract since Sept. 26, 2022. Talks began in May with the union being final offered twice on July 27 and Aug. 22. During this time, the employer made minor changes to their offer including an extra step to the pay scale that would only benefit about half of MGEU membership.

“Everyone knows Premier Stefanson can avert this strike by lifting her two percent wage mandate, just like she did for liquor workers,” said Ross. “We know her government can do better – look at the increases that she finally approved for liquor workers – 12 percent over four years. Unfortunately, it took five weeks of strike action to get some fairness.”

“This strike can end before it even starts, and our bargaining team is willing to meet over the weekend to make that happen so our members can continue to go to work and serve Manitobans.”

As a result of the strike, all MPI Service and Claim Centres, as well as the Physical Damage Centre, are closed to the public until further notice. All driver testing, estimating, adjusting and driver fitness appointments are cancelled and affected customers will be contacted to reschedule at a later date.

The following services will continue: licence renewals and insurance payments and reporting personal injury claims, non-drivable collision claims, and total-theft claims.

Customers reporting all other passenger vehicle claims, including hail claims, can go directly to an MPI-accredited repair shop for vehicle estimates and repairs, without calling MPI first.

Essential services, such as income replacement payments for personal injury claimants, will continue uninterrupted.