Public-sector wage freeze not unheard of, premier says

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister stopped short Monday of confirming that he is seeking a wage freeze from all public-sector workers as he attempts to reduce the deficit.

Pallister repeatedly said he would not confirm or deny word from the University of Manitoba and its faculty association that his Progressive Conservative government has asked for a one-year wage freeze to be tacked on to the end of all current public-sector collective agreements.

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"No I won't. But I will say this: It's very clear that we think that the rate of growth in spending on wages is not sustainable."

Pallister added a wage freeze in the province is not unheard of. The most recent example was in 2010, when the former NDP government asked for a "pause" in public-sector wage hikes.

"It's happened before lots of times. The NDP got zeros from unions, so I think (it's) well within our rights. It's not unprecedented at all."

Strike looms

Contract talks at the University of Manitoba hit an impasse last week and the faculty association has threatened to go on strike as early as Tuesday morning.

Last Friday, the university and the faculty association issued a joint statement that said the government was trying to get a one-year wage freeze from all public bodies. The statement criticized the move as interference.

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"We now find ourselves in the unusual circumstance of having a newly articulated provincial mandate regarding public-sector compensation levels that will have a profound impact on the final compensation levels that we will be able to negotiate," the university said.

Pallister said government involvement was justified. He said the province was trying to express a desired goal, not impose a new collective agreement.

"We have done our part to demonstrate to the negotiation team ... what we would like to see as an outcome. Now, it's up to management and labour, as it should be in any collective bargaining discussion, to arrive at a conclusion."

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The university asked the province Monday to appoint a conciliator to avert a strike. Pallister said his government would agree to provide one.

Wab Kinew, the NDP's education critic, said Pallister is intent on austere cost-cutting and interfering in contract talks.

"He's intervened in a way that undermines the University of Manitoba administration's ability to negotiate and, as a result, he's made a situation where at this point, it looks like a strike is inevitable."