Last week the MGEU began airing two television ads aimed at highlighting the need for equivalent full-time positions for thousands of Manitoba’s home care workers and mental health proctors.
The message in the ads is simple: these dedicated workers provide a vital service that Manitobans rely on and reduces the strain put on our health care system every day. It’s time to make their jobs, full-time jobs.
After a week on the airwaves, it’s clear that Manitobans are getting the message. In fact, the ads even have local media asking questions about the issue. Marlene Hrechka was asked on CBC radio why equivalent full time positions are so important to the field.
“Suddenly my hours can change and I have no guarantee of hours. You can go to work and find out that your clients are cancelled, then you’re not paid… You know it’s very difficult to make child care arrangements or to even get a mortgage or a loan on a reliable vehicle that you need to get to work [when you have no guarantee in hours].”
The program is currently having a hard time keeping employees on staff and providing clients with the kind of consistent care they want and deserve. But while this problem persists, not all Manitobans have heard about it... until now.
To gain a better understanding of what the average Manitoban thinks, the MGEU commissioned Viewpoints Research to administer a study in 2009 of Manitobans’ views on public services, particularly issues related to home care.
In that survey, almost nine out of ten Manitobans (88%) agreed that to recruit and retain home care workers, it is important to have permanent, full time jobs, which include better pensions and benefits.
The survey was then used to form the basis of the ads that began airing last week.
Watch the ads