Arbitrator awards pay bumps to Manitoba's Crown attorneys after 2 years without contract

Crown attorneys in Manitoba have been awarded a new, five-year deal after going to arbitration with the province.

After a hearing earlier last month between the province and the Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys (MACA), sole arbitrator William Kaplan outlined the new five-year deal in a Feb. 12 decision, retroactive to 2022, that includes total wage increases of just under 14 per cent.

MACA represents about 250 Crown attorneys that work in Manitoba's justice system. The association has been bargaining with the province for a new collective agreement since their last one expired in March 2022.

Rich Lonstrup, MACA's president, says the efforts to reach a new collective agreement spanned two provincial governments and left its members without one for about two years, but many of the issues its members experience remain unaddressed by the province.

"Crown attorneys face overwhelming caseloads. Some of our regional offices remain woefully understaffed," Lonstrup said in a Monday statement emailed to CBC News.

"Members have made and continue to make great sacrifices to their personal life and mental health."

The new deal also includes a new maximum step for senior Crowns, which gives them four percent more pay than the previous top level, as well as an additional two per cent long-service award for Crowns with 20 or more years of experience.

All full-time Crown attorneys will also get an $1,800 signing bonus, while part-timers will get $900.

In the arbitration decision, Kaplan says both the province and MACA provided "extensive and detailed" submissions to support their cases.

MACA cited the salaries of other Crown attorneys, workloads, recruitment and retention issues, on top of inflation, arguing they warrant significant wage increases, according to the decision.

Grievance remains outstanding: MACA

While the province acknowledged the work MACA's members contribute to Manitoba's justice system, it did not agree that there are recruitment and retention issues and also deemed many of the association's financial proposals as both "unprecedented and unaffordable," it says.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe called the new collective agreement "a fair deal that brings Manitoba in line with other provinces," in a Monday statement to CBC News.

Wiebe also blamed the previous Progressive Conservative government for leaving the province's Crown attorneys without a collective agreement, and with a working environment that left them "burnt out with stagnant wages."

But Lonstrup says the grievance that MACA filed against Manitoba — which was filed after members voted to reject the province's final contract offer in April 2023 — remains outstanding.

"We seek to work with the current government to swiftly resolve this unsustainable working environment," he said.

However, Kaplan's arbitration decision says any issues brought up by MACA or the province that were not specifically addressed in the contract award are now dismissed.