September 24, 2024 | Winnipeg, MB – Staff at the Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre (AHWC), represented by the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals (MAHCP), have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike mandate after more than two years without a new collective agreement. The last contract expired in April 2022.

More than 50 MAHCP members at AHWC work in 25 specialized health care and social service disciplines including as nurses, counsellors, community health workers, teacher’s assistants and many more. They serve Indigenous patients and clients in more than a dozen program areas, including through a recently launched mobile primary-care clinic. In July 2024, the Manitoba Government announced a partnership with AHWC to establish “Canada’s first Indigenous-led supervised consumption site.”

“The dedicated staff at Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre have waited too long for a contract that acknowledges their value,” said MAHCP President Jason Linklater. “The next contract must address the huge and growing wage gap between AHWC staff and their public health-care system colleagues. It is already way overdue.”

MAHCP’s Bargaining Committee called for a strike vote last week after nearly a year of negotiations. The strike vote was held from Tuesday to Friday, September 17-20, with 94% voting in favour of a strike mandate. No strike deadline has been set.

The last contract between MAHCP and AHWC, effective 2018-2022, provided Pallister-era wage freezes and meagre annual increases of 0%, 0%, 0.75% and 1%.

“Most wages at AHWC have increased less than 2% since 2018 while inflation has spiked over 20%. Many staff currently earn half or less of what their peers at other hospitals, clinics and agencies are making,” said Linklater. “The overwhelming strike mandate shows they will no longer accept this glaring inequity.”

The majority of funding for AHWC comes from a combination of federal and provincial government sources.

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The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals is a union representing more 7,000 allied health professionals. Our specialized members work in more than 45 professions throughout Manitoba in labs, clinics, hospitals, long-term care and community.
For more information about MAHCP, visit www.mahcp.ca.

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That’s the wrong direction, but it’s not surprising given the lack of fundamental change frontline health care professionals have seen.

On behalf of our 7,000 specialized members, MAHCP is calling on our provincial government to staff up in critical allied health areas to help free up beds and relieve the bottlenecks driving up ER wait times.

“Unfortunately, Manitoba is still short of critical allied health professionals, and we risk losing more of them due to burnout, increased workloads, and wages and benefits that have fallen behind,” said MAHCP President Jason Linklater.

We’re recommending:

• more diagnostic professionals to perform tests and scans shown to have the greatest impact on reducing ER wait times;
• more physiotherapists and occupational therapists to help free up beds by making sure patients get back on their feet and return home safely, or to keep patients safe at home in the first place and avoid trips to the emergency room;
• more social workers to make sure patients can be discharged safely with the supports and resources they need; and,
• more resources in the community, including home care case coordinators.

Since their election last fall, our government has announced important health care initiatives such as expanding hospital discharge to evenings and weekends, and adding more hospital and transitional care beds. Unfortunately, these initiatives won’t succeed – and ER wait times will remain unacceptably high – without increased retention and recruitment of allied health professionals.

“MAHCP is eager for a staffing update to find out how many critical positions have been added and filled to support the expanded discharge schedule and additional transitional beds. We’re asking for a comprehensive and transparent staffing plan to ensure Manitoba is retaining, training and recruiting the specialized allied health professionals necessary to fix the ER crisis.”

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Supervised consumption sites typically include a reception area, consumption spaces and post-consumption common areas. Staff are trained to respond to accidental overdoses and other emergencies and can refer to and support patrons in accessing health and social services. 

Read the safer consumption site announcement.

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“MAHCP takes every opportunity we can to meet with our Premier and other government representatives to talk about critical allied health retention and recruitment challenges. We’re calling on our government for a health human resources strategy that aligns with the work of other Canadian jurisdictions. We’re seeking expanded education and training for allied health, and we’re asking for essential improvements to the Healthcare Employee Benefit (HEB) plan. Without significant investments in the professionals who deliver high-quality patient care, Manitoba’s health-care system isn’t sustainable.”

Manitoba has been losing health-care professionals to other jurisdictions and employers aren’t filling vacant positions quickly enough. In a recent MAHCP membership survey, two-thirds of allied health professionals told us they’ve seriously considered leaving their job in the last year. More than one-quarter of respondents (28%) say they’ve even considered leaving the healthcare sector altogether, putting our clinics, labs, hospitals, community and long-term care settings at risk.

“We have to stop the bleeding. We we will only be able to improve retention and recruitment when Manitoba’s government and health-care employers collaborate to improve workplace culture, address critical vacancies, and enhance wages and benefits.”

What are allied health professionals’ top workplace concerns? According to our May 2024 MAHCP membership survey:

• ‘increased workload’ (61%)
• ‘unfilled vacancies’ (48%)
• ‘not feeling valued’ (39%)
• ‘low morale’ (38%)

“We also know that those who provide health care to Manitobans do not have a health benefits plan that looks after them appropriately. This is a barrier to recruitment and retention.”

The post MAHCP President & Premier Kinew talk allied health in Halifax appeared first on Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals.

“Manitoba is still burning out paramedics due to short-staffing,” said Linklater. “If I have one piece of advice right now, it is to hire paramedics whenever and wherever you can get them, and offer incentives in areas where you are having difficulty recruiting.”

Recent new hires are just plugging huge holes as paramedics leave, so it’s not clear that progress is being made yet. MAHCP is committed to working with Shared Health and the Manitoba government to make sure they can meet the Budget 2024 commitment to add 90 paramedics, and Premier Kinew’s broader election commitment to add 200 more paramedics.

“Manitoba lost hundreds of paramedics in recent years in rural Manitoba, driving up response times for the life-saving services they provide. We don’t have updated staffing numbers, but anecdotally, we are hearing that paramedics are still just as stretched, and estimates still range anywhere from 150 to 200 vacancies across the province, or 30 to 40% depending on the area.”

As we cap off #2024AlliedHealthWeek, we move into #ParamedicWeek and what will undoubtedly be a busy May long weekend for our paramedics. Stay safe.

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WHO: Jason Linklater, President, MAHCP

PRE-BUDGET STATEMENT: “Understaffed allied health professionals are struggling to provide care to Manitobans, and that daily struggle is reflected in rising wait times and in heart-wrenching patient testimonials. We have heard the promises that help is coming. The frontline is holding on, but this budget needs to show them that those promises are real. Specialized allied health professionals need to see commitments to train and hire additional staff, and targeted retention incentives to keep the people we have. Investments in healthcare must be the primary focus of this budget, if we want to build a strong, sustainable public health care system that will be there for all Manitobans when they need it.“

Read MAHCP’s Pre-Budget Submission: Budget submission Feb 2024 (mahcp.ca)

Our three key recommendations:

1. Focus on critical retention & recruitment initiatives.
2. Deliver much-needed improvements to health-care employee benefits and supports to bolster staff resilience and boost Manitoba’s competitiveness.
3. Expand training for high-demand allied health professions, including more accessible opportunities and incentives for rural and Northern Manitobans.

For more information or to arrange an interview with Jason Linklater:

Karen Viveiros, Communications Officer
e: karenv@mahcp.ca or cell 431-323-7499

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