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This article was published 9/12/2016 (1384 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brian Pallister’s antagonistic stance against unions could backfire on the premier and his government, a prominent labour leader says.

Kelly Moist, president of the 25,000-member Manitoba division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said there is solidarity among Manitoba unions — but even more so when they’re being attacked.

"In an effort to break unions and to completely destroy the labour peace that we’ve had in this province, I think he runs the risk of... actually uniting us and having us more unified than we’ve ever been," Moist said Friday.

The latest dispute between the Progressive Conservative government and organized labour occurred Thursday when Pallister — without advance warning to unions — announced he wants to reduce the number of collective bargaining units in the health sector. The government said it has identified 169 separate union contracts.

"I’m not saying that there isn’t a challenge with having that many collective agreements," Moist said Friday, adding she is willing to sit down and listen to the premier’s concerns.

Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Brandon Sun 18032014 Kelly Moist, president of CUPE Manitoba, addresses delegates at the CUPE Manitoba annual convention at the Keystone Centre on Tuesday.

'I think he runs the risk of... actually uniting us and having us more unified than we've ever been' ‐ Kelly Moist, president of the Manitoba division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees





CUPE represents 9,000 health workers in the province and negotiates more than 30 public-sector health contracts.

"It’s just very difficult when we’re learning of his questions and his ideas through the media when I think a direct conversation would be much more productive," Moist said.

David Camfield, a labour studies professor at the University of Manitoba, said there is a potential pitfall for government in reducing the number of health contracts.

Large bargaining groups could empower labour, he said.

"The stakes become higher, and if there is a strike or lockout, it affects a lot more people," he said.

Camfield said he’s not surprised the premier is interested in cutting the number of bargaining units.

"We’ve certainly seen moves to amalgamate in other provinces. This certainly has lots of precedents," he said.

"It allows (the PCs) politically to present themselves as cost-savers, but I really don’t know how much cost-saving will be achieved."

Unions are feeling attacked after the PCs amended provincial labour laws this fall to make it more difficult — in their view — to organize workplaces.

Pallister has hinted he will insist any new collective agreement in the public sector must contain a wage freeze, and he has even indicated he wants to open up contracts in a bid to obtain wage concessions.

The government has done this while generally shunning labour leaders and refusing to involve them in important committees.

On Friday, public-sector unions were attempting to decipher Pallister’s figures. In addition to asserting there were 169 health bargaining agreements, the premier claimed the deals contained 47 unique provisions for bereavement leave.

The Free Press asked the government for a list of the bargaining units Friday, but none was given.

Union leaders said the 169 number — if accurate — is still somewhat misleading in that major issues, such as wages and benefits, tend to be bargained at "central tables" involving multiple unions and workplaces covering thousands of workers at a time.

Only specific workplace issues are bargained separately at the local level.

"I think we have the best of both worlds," said Sheila Gordon, chief negotiator with the 42,000-member Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, of the current process.

The MGEU has 48 collective agreements in the health sector, representing more than 16,000 employees who work in hundreds of facilities across the province.

Unions are wary of Pallister’s motivations for reducing the number of bargaining units, although they acknowledge rationalization has occurred in other provinces.

A few years ago, when the NDP amalgamated regional health authorities, three unions were forced to compete to represent certain workers in the larger, newly formed RHAs. That set up a system of winners and losers among unions, as workers had to vote to choose who represented them.

There’s a suspicion among union leaders that the government’s motivation is not efficiency, but to pit unions against each other and create a public distraction as it lays the groundwork for service cuts and privatization.

Any rationalization process could be disruptive to both workers and management, some say.

"Every dollar and every moment that we put into that process could be put into delivering and improving and protecting front-line services," Gordon said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca