Manitoba health-care workers issue strike notice [Video]

Unions representing roughly 25,000 health-care support workers have issued a strike notice, alerting the province its members will walk off the job if a deal is not reached before a looming deadline.

In a news release, CUPE and MGEU said they served a formal notice to the province that a strike will begin on Oct. 8, if they cannot agree on terms of a new deal.

This comes after workers rejected a proposed tentative agreement in August, giving bargaining committees a strike mandate.

“Since that time, CUPE and MGEU teams have been working with the employers to resolve issues at the bargaining tables, but the process has not resulted in a meaningful improvement to offers to our members,” said CUPE Manitoba President Gina McKay.

Workers affected by the strike include health-care aides, laundry workers, dietary aides, ward clerks, and recreational coordinators at health-care centres and personal care homes, as well as home care workers. They work in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Shared Health, the Interlake-Eastern Health …