During the last round of bargaining, Manitoba’s Civil Service negotiated a two-percent long-service step (effective October 2012) for members that have reached 20 years of service.
However, as you may remember, after the agreement was ratified the government determined that groups of MGEU members that had been transitioned into government from other agencies or other levels of government would not have all of their years of service counted.
Instead, the government insisted that their eligibility for the long-service step ought to begin on the date their job was transitioned.
This meant that, for some members who’d worked at the same job, in the same office, even at the very same desk, for twenty years or more, they’d have to continue to wait to receive the long-service step.
The MGEU then filed a grievance on behalf of its members, which the government denied.
The union quickly moved the issue to arbitration and this past April we asked our members to send the Province a message about this issue. It asked the government to reverse its position on the matter and to “do the right thing.”
“I am happy to announce today that the government has finally come around and agreed that these members deserve their long-service step,” said MGEU President Lois Wales.
“Thanks to our members, the campaign we waged helped convince the government that this was the right move. This is our membership at work. When we come together in pursuit of a cause, anything is possible.”