"As we expected, the Court of Queen’s Bench agreed with us and ordered the Minister to appoint an interest arbitration board, calling the Minister’s argument 'disingenuous at best.' She granted an order requiring the board be appointed and for the government to pay legal costs to the MGEU/NUPGE. Shockingly, the government still refused to do the right thing.” — Michelle Gawronsky, MGEU President
Winnipeg (16 April 2021) — The Manitoba Court of Appeal confirmed this week that the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union (MGEU/NUPGE) had a right to have an interest arbitration board appointed to determine the terms and conditions of the next Civil Service collective agreement.
“This victory means that MGEU Civil Service members will finally get a fair hearing before an independent arbitration board,” said Michelle Gawronsky, MGEU President. “After a terribly frustrating couple of years, this is an opportunity we are eager and ready to undertake on their behalf.”
Manitoba government refused to fairly bargain with MGEU/NUPGE
The current Civil Service collective agreement expired in March 2019 and negotiations began in April 2019. From the outset, the MGEU/NUPGE made it clear that, given the government’s wage freeze legislation (Bill 28), the union needed to know if there were any possibility the employer would negotiate wage increases that exceed the wage freezes and caps set out in Bill 28 (which has since been ruled unconstitutional).
“Government negotiators never answered this critical question,” Gawronsky said. “They also told us that if we filed to have the contract settled by an independent arbitrator, anything the employer agreed to at the bargaining table up to that point would be withdrawn. We decided that further bargaining in this situation would not be productive and that the best path to a fair contract was to file for arbitration.”
MGEU/NUPGE pushed back, filing for arbitration, then to court
In summer 2019, MGEU’s Civil Service Bargaining Committee exercised its right under The Civil Service Act to file for arbitration. However, instead of following the act, the Minister refused to proceed with the arbitration process, claiming that he had discretion not to, and that the union’s request was premature.
“This left us with no choice but to go to court to ensure our members’ rights were respected,” Gawronsky said. “As we expected, the Court of Queen’s Bench agreed with us and ordered the Minister to appoint an interest arbitration board, calling the Minister’s argument 'disingenuous at best.' The Justices granted an order requiring the board be appointed and for the government to pay legal costs to the MGEU/NUPGE. Shockingly, the government still refused to do the right thing.”
Court of Appeal ruled in favour of MGEU/NUPGE members
Last summer, the government appealed the court decision, delaying things even further. The Court of Appeal heard arguments in December 2020 and released its decision this week. The Minister’s appeal was dismissed, the court order to appoint an arbitration board was confirmed, and the Minister must pay court costs to the MGEU/NUPGE.
“At this point, we’re relieved to finally be able to focus on the arbitration hearing scheduled for this September,” Gawronsky said. “We will argue for a fair and reasonable collective agreement for those who serve and support Manitobans every day. It’s not too much to ask, and as we’ve seen, it is our members' legal right to have that opportunity.”
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