Manitoba health care worker considers himself among the working poor

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A Winnipeg health-care aide is calling on the province and CUPE to immediately sort out a fair wage deal as the medical system struggles on life support.

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“People say our health-care system is crumbling, in my opinion it has already crumbled and is dissolving now,” said 28-year-old Brayden Slipec, who works in the St. Boniface Hospital emergency department and Concordia Hospital. “So, they need to give the workers what they need now, and stop thinking about price tags.”

With the rising cost of living, and increased premiums for benefits, CPP, union dues and parking, Slipec, who works alongside doctors and nurses, considers himself working poor — earning roughly minimum wage ($15.30) on an hourly rate of $21.30.

According to the employment website Indeed, average Winnipeg McDonald’s restaurant hourly pay ranges from $15.30 for counter attendants to $17.29 for managers.

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Slipec does get a pay boost for working evenings, nights and weekends, which he appreciates.

“I honestly think a fair wage to start health-care aides off should be $27,” said Slipec. “Max us out at $30 or $31. A lot of us are not doing this for the money. We are in health care because we actually care about our community.”

Slipec lives with his mother because he can’t afford to move out. He could rent an apartment in a “grubby” part of Winnipeg, but would then be forced to cover the cost of theft and vandalism to his vehicle, he said. He has worked 63 out of the last 70 days and is now “physically and mentally exhausted.”

“For those of us putting in full-time hours, it’s a slap in the face that they are saying ‘no, we are not going to offer you (a) full-time (position),’” said Slipec of his desire for benefits and pension that match his hours.

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“They need to give us workers what we are asking for, not because we are trying to be greedy or selfish, but because we need it to survive now.”

Health-care aides work hard, said Slipec. Moving, turning and toileting patients. Checking vital signs. Cleaning soiled patients. Stocking medical supplies, and even responding to medical codes. Code White is when patients lose control. Code Blue is when patients are dying.

“You’ve got to find the safest way to calm them down, and make them and everyone else safe right?” he said. “And with code blue, that’s when you start doing CPR.”

Slipec is also concerned about excessive emergency room (ER) wait times. Patients who’ve waited many hours sometimes become angry with staff, adding another layer of difficulty on top of low wages and increased workload.

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“One thing that really boils my blood is I’m tired of sitting down with these patients and apologizing to them,” said Slipec. “We constantly have to say we are doing our best. It’s very dysfunctional. It’s heartbreaking.”

It’s now routine for patients to wait 10 to 15 hours for care at St. Boniface, ER doctor Noam Katz told the Winnipeg Sun in August. In some cases, patients have gone into cardiac arrest or suffered other severe complications.

According to data provided by Shared Health, ER wait times have steadily increased since the pandemic with minor variations, including an 11-minute improvement in average wait times for Winnipeg in July to 3.42 hours.

According to Shared Health, one in three patients in 2023 left the Health Sciences Centre ER without seeing a doctor.

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Slipec and his Winnipeg colleagues recently rejected a four-year contract offering an 11.25% wage increase with a 1% market adjustment. A strike is possible.

“That is ridiculous,” he said, noting the NDP government needs more time to tackle health-care system problems. “Everyone who voted ‘no’ for this contract, I can promise you, is very disappointed in CUPE. Some of us have even been thinking about reaching out to (another union) to see if they would be willing to take us.”

Health-care support workers go all-out for patients, said Margaret Schroeder, President of CUPE 204 representing around 16,000 support staff at Shared Health and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority in a statement.

“We are going all-in for health care, and we need the government to go all-in for health care too; that is the message we are bringing back to the bargaining table.”

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