WINNIPEG — Midwives in this city picketed in front of the Birth Centre Thursday morning to raise awareness of the state of the industry in Manitoba.
30 midwives working within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority voted 91 per cent in favour of a strike mandate in January.
“We applaud the government for increasing funding for midwifery training, but we are falling behind other provinces when it comes to compensation” said Sheree Capar, CUPE National Representative. “We need to deal with recruitment and retention issues, and the best way to do that is to have competitive compensation so we don’t lose our midwives to other provinces or professions”.
Midwives within CUPE 2348 have been working without a contract for nearly 2 years. The current collective agreement expired on Mar. 31, 2014.
According to the association that represents midwives there are approximately 50 working within Manitoba.
The organization said around 200 are needed to meet current demand.
The group will be holding an informational picket outside the Birth Centre between 7 – 9 a.m.
The $3.5 million Birth Centre has not been hitting its goals since it opened in 2011. One of the biggest problems previously noted was a lack of available midwives.
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