As a healthcare union, MAHCP fights for strong, fair, and enforceable collective agreements, and for prompt implementation.
Our goal is to bargain contracts that recognize and reward our specialized membership’s unique skills, and which will serve to stabilize the system and strengthen recruitment and retention. Sustaining a high-quality workforce requires competitive wages that reflect real market pressures, and Manitoba’s healthcare system must be able to temper the allure of other jurisdictions’ available signing bonuses and incentives. In anticipation of bargaining, we’ve asked our members to research and compare Manitoba’s wage scales to comparators using the Ontario Prairies West Averages (Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC wages).
Our system is buckling under the weight of increased patient load and acuity, while high vacancy rates continue to plague critical occupations, including paramedicine, lab and diagnostic services, as well as many other specialized professions Manitobans need for accessible, equitable care, especially in rural and Northern regions.
Here are just some of the achievements we’ve bargained to address recruitment and retention challenges:
- In our most recent Central Table contracts (ratified March 19, 2025 by approximately 7,000 members covered by three similar Collective Agreements), we achieved a GWI of 11.25% over the four-year life of the agreement, plus a 1% market adjustment, and a $3/hour step standardization across all classifications.
- In 2023, and again in 2025, we achieved significant Market Adjustment & Wage Standardization funds to address salary inequities and lagging wages.
- With the most recent contract, we achieved wage parity for our rural and Northern paramedics with their City of Winnipeg counterparts to support retention and prevent migration.
- In 2025, we bargained a Northern differential for our members working North of the 53rd parallel (5% above urban wage scales (excluding pharmacists) in 2024 going up to 15% in 2025 (including pharmacists)).
- We bargained additional long-service steps; increased shift premiums for evening, night, and weekend work; hourly premiums for allied health professionals dedicated to ICU/ED and Urgent Care/ED; and additional income protection, wellness days, and vacation accrual.
As we move ahead with bargaining multiple local table agreements in the coming year (many of which are expiring in 2026), our aim is to push for similar contract terms and protections across our membership.
Without increased investment in this vital workforce, Manitoba’s healthcare system will continue to face critical staffing shortages that compromise patient care and result in overload for the valuable workers who remain.