Winnipeg, Manitoba — Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) workers are now in their second week of strike action after the public insurer and the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU) failed to reach a deal.
“With more unnecessary strike action scheduled for next week, MPI continues to call on MGEU to accept binding arbitration–to end the strike immediately, end ongoing income losses for our employees and cease disruption for all Manitobans,” wrote MPI in a Sept. 2 release.
The public insurer said its “enhanced and guaranteed total monetary offer of 17 percent over four years” could be actioned immediately, which includes general wage increases of eight percent over four years, and a new permanent wage step of of 3.5 percent that will apply globally to all unionized employees.
“The specific issue of general wage increases beyond two percent per year is resolved through a fair binding arbitration process as MGEU makes its case for further increases,” wrote the insurer.
MPI says its offer to the 1,700+ striking employees also includes a lump-sum signing bonus of $1,800 or 2.8 percent of average salary, and other benefit enhancements totaling 1.7 percent of average salary. A further special wage adjustment of one percent is included for employees in the Operations division, which accounts for three-quarters of unionized staff.
Thus far, MPI has refined its services in an effort to streamline processes amid the strike. Actions include:
- All general enquiries and service transactions, including driver’s licence and insurance renewals, new insurance policies, and payments can be handled by any one of Manitoba’s 300 broker partners
- The MPI Contact Centre remains open for reporting new personal injury claims, collision claims involving non-drivable vehicles, and total thefts
- Customers reporting all other passenger vehicle (car, SUV and light-duty truck) claims can begin the process by filling out MPI’s new online claim form
- Other essential services, such as income replacement payments for personal injury claimants, will continue uninterrupted
- MPI has resumed Class 5 driving test services and customers with cancelled appointments are being contacted to reschedule
In response to a high volume of hail repair claims, MPI will also open one of its Winnipeg locations for scheduled hail estimating appointments, beginning Sept. 11. Customers who have begun the hail estimating process at a repair shop can continue to work directly with their shop to have their vehicle repaired, said the insurer.
Stay tuned to our daily e-zine and social channels for more news on the ongoing MPI strike, or click here for our report on the repairer perspective.
