We did it, folks.
Together we stood up and sent a strong message that Manitoba’s health care professionals want respect.
For your participation in this strike vote process, I thank each and every one of you.
The result of our strike vote is 88%.
An overwhelming majority voted in favour of giving their Central Table bargaining committee a strike mandate, should they feel the need to take this step. As was stated in the strike vote FAQs, this does not mean that we’ll be setting up the picket lines tomorrow.
What I can confirm today is that our bargaining committee does have more dates with the employer, starting at the end of October, in November and in December.
Also, it is the employer’s turn to present a response to us, and it is my firm belief that this strike mandate will go a long way towards ensuring a fair collective agreement can be reached.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the strike readiness committee, our Executive Council, the Central Table bargaining committee, our staff and all of those who worked long hours to make this strike vote a huge success.
This was our first foray into electronic voting and, judging by the huge number of respondents, we now know that this is a great way to engage with our members. The large number of new personal email addresses that were submitted during this process is a very important indicator that members are more willing to be engaged now than I have seen in a very long time.
Please be assured that we will continue to keep you updated on any bargaining developments.
In solidarity,
Bob