WINNIPEG -- A union representing public sector employees has filed a grievance with Shared Health, CTV Winnipeg confirmed.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said in a statement that back in March, healthcare unions and the Manitoba government worked in collaboration to create a ‘Redeployment Memorandum of Agreement’ in order to facilitate redeployment to support healthcare during the pandemic.
The spokesperson noted that the grievance filed has to do with Manitoba Public Insurance staff who were redeployed to the Health Sciences Centre, alleging the “employer did not inform all parties that MPI staff would be working at HSC performing work of existing health care workers.”
Premier Brian Pallister said at a news conference on Tuesday, the MPI workers were helping to move personal protective equipment at the hospital.
The premier said he doesn’t think these grievances are helpful.
“We should be pulling together,” he said.
“We’ve used redeployment to keep people working. That’s been my goal as premier and it’s been our government’s goal since we came into government four years ago.”
CUPE said it is cooperating with Shared Health, but it expects the government to follow the processes agreed upon.
“We would like to reassure the Premier that CUPE and Shared Health are working constructively to address our concerns, as is the norm,” the spokesperson said.
