The province is forging ahead with its plan to tackle Manitoba's almost $1 billion deficit over the next eight years.

As part of that plan, the PC government introduced legislation this month to freeze wages for public-sector employees, including doctors and teachers. All workers would see a two-year wage freeze, followed by 0.75 per cent in the third year, and one per cent in the fourth.

That move is obviously not sitting well with union leaders who are accusing Premier Brian Pallister of breaking his promise to protect public service jobs.

Pallister calls that accusation laughable.

"For too many years, the Government of Manitoba was run for the heads of the unions and not for the people who need the services the unions provide. We've got to realize that protecting public service jobs is important, but protecting the services that Manitobans, count on should be our focus. It's not ever going to be feasible for us to go back to the old way of catering to special interest groups, giving them everything they want and taking taxes and jacking them up year after year after year."


The legislation is part of Pallister's "all hands on deck" plan to eliminate the province's estimated $872 million deficit within the next eight years. Pallister argues the legislation that has been put forward by his government has the future of public workers in mind.

"The NDP made a big deal of giving people a 50% raise and then, of course, they'd take 42 cents out of their pocket in extra fees, charges, the PST, for example and these types of things. So really, are you any better off? What we need to do here is protect front line jobs, for sure, but mostly let's stay focused on the services that we're supposed to be providing and understand that keeping taxes down and not handing a massive amount of debt to our children and grandchildren is a far better, far more sustainable way to go."

The PC government has also introduced The Health Sector Bargaining Unit Review Act, which is designed to reduce the number of collective bargaining units in the health sector.

Manitoba has over 180 separate bargaining units and this legislation would cut that number down to less than 50.