Backlogs from Manitoba Public Insurance strike could take months to clear

As the 10-week Manitoba Public Insurance strike ends, drivers in the province can expect lengthy delays as workers try to catch up and clear backlogs. 

Roughly 1,700 workers will go back to work Friday morning, with services set to resume that afternoon at 1 p.m., following the end of a strike that began on Aug. 28.

While the Crown corporation's board expects operations to be up and running quickly, it is asking people to be patient. 

"Just as an example, there's 15,000 road tests that have to be rescheduled," said MPI board chair Carmen Nedohin.

That number doesn't include people who became eligible for a test during the two-month strike, and may also now be looking to book.

MPI said prior to the strike it would typically complete around 300 road tests each day across the province, and Nedohin expects road tests will be booking into next year just to catch up. 

But there's also a backlog of claims. 

Approximately 16,000 reported claims are currently in varying stages of the claim process, an MPI spokesperson said in an email Thursday.

That includes many related to an Aug. 24 hailstorm in Winnipeg and surrounding areas. As of Wednesday, more than 12,300 claims had been reported to MPI related to that storm. For around 3,000 of those claims, an estimate has been completed or the claim has been settled as a total loss, the Crown corporation said.

'Controlled chaos'

Peter Posillipo, owner of Finish First Autobody in Winnipeg, says he hopes customers will be patient and understanding as repair shops rush to catch up with a situation he called "controlled chaos."

"We can only do so many cars per day," he said.

His shop is facing a backlog of three to four months, and is looking forward to MPI services getting back to normal, he told CBC's Up To Speed in a Thursday interview.

"We've been waiting for a lot longer to get approval on the work that we need done on these cars," he said.

With his shop already facing a backlog, he's concerned about what the winter driving season may bring.

"I just can't image what this is going to do to us. It's just going to be crazy, that's for sure."

Nedohin said there will be some overtime for employees, and MPI expects to have some additional assistance to get things moving again.

To help, MPI is encouraging those who can to open new claims online through the corporation's online claim reporting form.

The public insurer also says it will be contacting people whose appointments were cancelled during the strike to reschedule, and that its website will be updated with the latest updates as it restores services.

'Neutral' impact on budget: chair

The new contract for MPI workers provides wage increases of at least 13 per cent over four years, a Wednesday night news release from the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union said.

It also includes a one-time lump sum signing bonus of $1,800 for full-time employees, which would be pro-rated for part-time employees, according to MGEU, along with two weeks' pay to recognize the stalled negotiations between the Oct. 3 provincial election and the new government being sworn in.

The deal means workers have "cleared the tunnel," MGEU president Kyle Ross told CBC after the deal was ratified on Wednesday, but "now I feel it's more like they probably have a mountain to climb though" with the backlog of work.

The Crown corporation expected a settlement this year since the last contract was up in 2022. Adding in labour savings during the strike, MPI expects a "neutral" effect on its bottom line, said Nedohin, who became chair after the new NDP government replaced almost all of the corporation's board on Oct. 20.

Matt Wiebe, the new minister responsible for Manitoba Public Insurance, said getting a deal done was a top priority for the NDP.

"Our government has come in with a mandate to end the headaches," Wiebe told reporters Wednesday night after the deal was ratified. 

The new deal demonstrates both respect for workers and a "commitment to responsible management of the public purse," Wiebe said.

It also sets a tone for how the government plans to deal with labour disputes moving forward, as opposed to the previous Progressive Conservative government, which "opted to pick fights and freeze wages for working people," he said.

'Wake-up call for employers'

The province also saw strikes by Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries and land titles workers this summer. MGEU has said 11,000 civil servants could be the next to walk off the job. 

"It's a bit of a wake-up call for employers," said Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University. 

"There's been a few decades where [employers] have just been sort of used to getting their way, and what we're seeing now is that's no longer the case."

Eidlin said in the past, employers have not had to do much to settle agreements. But the tide is shifting, he said, and workers are rejecting agreements, even if that means they will be on the picket line longer.

"You saw it with the Metro grocery strike in Toronto over the summer, you saw it at the port strike in British Columbia, where workers have heightened expectations and they want to fight for something more after decades of getting less," Eidlin said. 

Canadians could be in for more long strikes in the future, as workers clash with employers that are not used to this "level of combativeness," he said.

There is also a push for governments and those in the private sector to start to prioritize human resources and workers' wages, said Eidlin.

"You need to prioritize treating those workers well and paying them adequately for the services that they provide," he said.

"It's not that there's unlimited resources, but … those things need to maybe get bumped up a few notches in the hierarchy."