Canada : No money for striking youth workers, but managers got raises: union
MacDonald Youth Services raised managers’ salaries and sat on a hefty budget surplus while stalling contract talks with workers now out on strike, their union leader charged Friday.
"There seems to
be money for everyone but the front-line staff," said Manitoba Government and General Employees Union president Michelle Gawronsky, who joined about two dozen workers at the Mayfair Avenue site of the agency’s new $7.5 million headquarters, currently under construction.
The MGEU released government figures to show agency’s CEO Erma Chapman’s salary rose six per cent salary over the last two years. The lead management negotiator’s salary increased nine per cent over the same period. The agency’s latest annual report shows a $74,000 year-end surplus.
Workers who provide crisis services to at-risk youths walked off the job 11 days ago. They’ve been without a contract since April 1, 2014 and are asking for annual two per cent raises for four years, which the union says would amount to $24,000 annually.
"If you can give raises to your CEO and senior manager why can’t you make a fair and reasonable offer to front-line workers?" Gawronsky asked at the rally.
The union is calling on MYS to end the strike by agreeing to binding arbitration, which Chapman rejected in an email to the Free Press late Friday, saying management plans to return to the bargaining table, dealing directly with the union.
She also said the agency supports the union’s pay demands but can’t offer increases.
— staff