WINNIPEG -- Some Manitoba Hydro workers have gone on strike according to the Crown corporation.
Hydro said in an email to CTV News, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2034 (IBEW) rejected a contract offer.
It said strike action started at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and rotating strikes are expected to last for 24 hours.
"Manitoba Hydro has contingency plans in place to ensure it can continue to provide its essential and emergency service to customers and maintain public safety around its facilities and infrastructure," said Bruce Owen, media relations officer, in an email.
Owen said IBEW turned down a three-year contract which featured a 0.75 per cent wage increase in the third year retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021.
"The offer followed months of negotiations, most recently conducted with the aid of a conciliator, while abiding by the financial mandates provided to Manitoba Hydro by the provincial government."
The contract also said no IBEW employee would be laid off if their position were eliminated due to contracting out work which would normally be performed by the employees for the fiscal year ending in March 2022.
The workers were also offered a one-time allocation of 80 hours to sick leave balances for those who worked 30 per cent of their time in the field in the 2020-21 fiscal year and a fitness subsidy for the 2021 year increasing the amount by $100 to $350.
CTV News has reached out to IBEW for comment.
