Update: Manitoba nurses vote in favour of strike - Classic107: Winnipeg s only dedicated classical and jazz radio station classic107.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from classic107.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dealing with critical staffing shortages and struggling to recruit and retain new nurses, the union that represents more than 12,000 nurses in the province say…
Manitoba continues to battle the highest per-capita COVID-19 infection rate in Canada as the country reaches a vaccination milestone, with half the national population having received a first dose.
Winnipeg Free Press Save to Read Later
MANITOBA nurses haven’t yet been told how the province will deal with staff shortages during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, union officials say.
MANITOBA nurses haven’t yet been told how the province will deal with staff shortages during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, union officials say.
Around 20 per cent of nursing positions in all areas of Manitoba are vacant, except for northern Manitoba, where vacancy rates spiked to 47 per cent, according to data gathered by the Manitoba Nurses Union.
MNU president Darlene Jackson said the time to address shortages was two or three years ago, and now that Manitoba is relying on burnt-out nurses to work higher and higher levels of mandated and voluntary overtime, there is no easy fix.
Opinion
The decision this week by 2,300 Manitoba Hydro workers to go on strike is hardly surprising.
The decision this week by 2,300 Manitoba Hydro workers to go on strike is hardly surprising.
Given the profuse serving of tough love that has been dished out over the last few years, it would have been shocking if they had stayed on the job.
The workers who maintain Hydro’s power transmission and distribution systems have been without a contract since 2018. Last year, they had to absorb three unpaid days off after the Progressive Conservative government demanded the Crown corporation trim operating costs.
On the heels of all that, the offer presented to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2034 would seem even to skeptics of the collective bargaining approach to be almost punitive.