Yesterday MGEU President Kyle Ross sent a letter to the board chairs of Métis Child, Family and Community Services (CFCS) and Michif Child and Family Services (CFS) regarding wage parity for agency workers who do the same work as CFS workers in Manitoba’s civil service.
Although the Manitoba government has confirmed a funding increase of $2.4 million this year for the Métis Child and Family Services Authority, which funds the two agencies, both Métis CFCS and Michif CFS have insisted that provincial funding is inadequate to support equal pay for equal work.
In the letter, Ross outlined the following facts around wage parity and provincial funding for these agencies:
- The provincial funding increase from 2022/23 – 2025/26 is 14.2%
- The wage increase needed to achieve wage parity is 8.48% in 2022-25
- The wage increase needed to achieve wage parity is 11.73% in 2022-26
- Southeast Child and Family Services (SECFS) made a contract offer that, if ratified, would achieve parity on the regular wage scales. SECFS received the same provincial funding increase as Métis CFCS and Michif CFS.
Ross concluded by stating it’s time for Métis CFCS and Michif CFS to acknowledge the significant funding increases that have been provided by the province since 2022 and come to the bargaining table with an offer that achieves parity with the equivalent, regular civil service wage scales.
References
Manitoba Estimates of Expenditure 2025/26, Part A, Appropriation 9.4(c)(2), p. 72