Members of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals voted in favour of a new collective agreement with the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities yesterday evening.
This group of MAHCP members, which includes Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Speech Language Pathologists, had been in negotiations with their Employer for a year and a half.
In July of 2015, this group voted unanimously in favour of a strike mandate. Negotiations with the Employer had been progressing well until the bargaining committee reached monetary items. On June 11, 2015, the Employer informed the committee that they had not received any funding letters to support any increased monetary compensation for the new collective agreement. As a result, the bargaining committee and MAHCP decided to apply for conciliation, which was granted.
“The 100 per cent support of a strike mandate last year showed that the bargaining committee has the steadfast support of the membership,” said Bob Moroz, President of MAHCP.
“This support resulted in a strong collective agreement that this group of MAHCP members can build on in the future, with market adjustments for some of the professions and wage increases similar to what our Central Table members recently received.”
During Monday evening’s meeting, Labour Relations Officer Marcya Ervick thanked the bargaining committee for their hard work during this long set of negotiations.