Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Rethinking Wage Freezes

CLAC to Manitoba government: it’s time to be fair to education sector workers

By Geoff Dueck Thiessen, Regional Director

It’s time for the provincial government to change its mind on wage freezes for public sector workers, many of whom have been putting themselves in harm’s way during the pandemic to keep crucial services going.

Workers employed in Manitoba’s public sector have not received a wage increase since 2017. At the time, the provincial government was interested in controlling spending and saw public sector wages as an area where they could accomplish this.

In March 2017, they passed the Public Services Sustainability Act, which required every Manitoba employee paid with tax money to be subject to a four-year wage schedule that would see no increases in the first two years and only 0.75 percent and 1.5 percent in the final two years. While the legislation was passed, it was not enacted. Still, public employers such as school divisions took the position that they had to follow the government’s direction as laid out in the bill.

While healthcare workers and other essential workers have rightly been eligible for pandemic pay, the province’s education sector employees, including teachers and their critical supporting cast of educational assistants, custodians, administrative assistants, librarians, IT professionals, and others, have been stuck at pre-COVID wages, with no relief in sight.

Some employee groups accepted what they saw as their inevitable fate. But most unionized employees did not agree to these conditions, and several unions took the government to court.

Last spring, these unions won a decision that overturned the bill. Meanwhile, teachers at Louis Riel School Division took their negotiations to an arbitrator (teachers cannot legally go on strike but can apply for arbitration), who awarded a two-year settlement of 1.6 percent and 1.4 percent.

Pembina Trails School Division teachers also recently completed their arbitration hearings, and these unionized workers are now waiting to see if their ruling will be the same as Louis Riel’s. If so, it could set a precedent for the province’s education sector.

At the same time, the provincial government has said it will appeal the spring 2020 court decision. Which begs the question: why is the provincial government entrenched in its position that education sector workers shouldn’t be able to negotiate a fair wage increase?

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on how much we rely on public sector workers to provide services in a safe manner and to take on risks so that we can enjoy the crucial infrastructure that keeps civil society functioning. The province has recognized this risk for some employees and has acted to help certain segments of front-line workers (front-line healthcare workers and grocery retail workers, for example).

But many front-line workers, like those in education, have not received this boost in pay. School division employees have had their wages frozen and have been left out of risk pay while working through the most stressful and dangerous conditions they have ever faced.

Consider that educational assistants work directly with the highest-need students for roughly 30 hours per week, placing them at risk of catching COVID-19. They willingly put their health on the line to assist in learning and work precariously with the threat of violence and loss of hours due to changes to the school calendar or school closures.

With rising inflation and limited hours available, these workers are struggling to stay above the poverty line.

Another example is school custodians. They work varying hours, putting their health at risk through repetitive physical labour and by cleaning up bodily fluids. We rely on them to keep our schools safe.

Will this army of part-time evening employees be able to negotiate fair wage increases?

These are some of the public sector workers who have essentially been told by our government that they are too expensive to negotiate wage increases. Instead, they must wait to see if the province can overturn a court ruling and if the teacher arbitration cases will apply to them.

There is a solution: the provincial government can see the signs and change its mind.

The courts have ruled that the legislation put forth by the Public Services Sustainability Act was wrong. Arbitrators have weighed the evidence, and under long and careful consideration have ruled that teachers should have a modest wage increase.

The pandemic has put public sector employees into situations that nobody expected. This has amplified what was always true: that we rely on these workers to keep us safe and perform services that are difficult to provide.

It’s time for the province to repeal the Public Services Sustainability Act, make public its education review, and gain back the trust of workers in public service. Unions such as CLAC will head to the bargaining table, and employers and unions will continue to do their responsible work during difficult times.

There are few more effective things that will gain back the public’s trust than changing one’s mind and showing support. It’s not weakness—it’s just good leadership.

Rethinking Wage Freezes

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