Staffing shortages could affect city services across Winnipeg, union warns
Lifeguards, arena attendants in short supply, city says
Winnipeggers could see program cutbacks at community facilities this winter as the city grapples with staffing shortages.
The City of Winnipeg announced earlier this week that a lack of lifeguards and ongoing repair work had forced it to push back the reopening of the pool at the Cindy Klassen Recreation Complex until April 2023. It had originally been set to open this month.
Now, the head of the city's biggest union warns that other services could be affected by staffing issues.
"It's happening in every department, citywide," said Gordon Delbridge, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500.
"They're seeing it with mechanics, library workers, Zamboni drivers, lifeguards — it's right across the board."
This past summer, a lack of lifeguards forced the city to cut back on pool hours, but River Heights-Fort Garry Coun. John Orlikow, who chairs the city's community services committee, said he wasn't aware of any library staffing shortages.
A spokesperson acknowledged the city is, however, facing a shortage of arena attendants — the people who perform jobs like operating ice maintenance equipment and custodial work at arenas.
"There is currently a provincewide shortage of individuals with this skill set," the city spokesperson said.
"We are actively recruiting attendants, and there have been no service impacts at arenas to date."
Orlikow said the city has been working on recruiting and training new staff.
"I know they've hired about 34 [or] 35 new lifeguards, so they're working on that," he said.
City considering training, incentives
Orlikow acknowledged that other pools could see service cutbacks.
"Again, we're short of lifeguards, so that's going to have an impact on programming," he said. "You'll see in the Leisure Guide … there will be some reduction in programming across the city."
The city's spokesperson said hours of service at other pools could be impacted, the number of swimming lessons may be reduced, and some features like hot tubs may be closed.
Specific numbers of vacancies would not be available until next week, the spokesperson said.
Orlikow said the city is working on finding incentives to reduce some of the barriers that prevent people from filling vacant city positions, such as introducing a more flexible scheduling model.
The city used to be an employer of choice for many, but salaries haven't kept pace, said Delbridge. That means many are looking elsewhere for a career, the CUPE president said.
He said the city and the union have to work together to help with training and other benefits to bolster the workforce.
"Whether it's apprenticeship training, or classification upgrades that people need, there's opportunities there," Delbridge said.
"There's opportunities for us to work with the Indigenous community, and I think that we should put some focus into that area as well."
WATCH | Staffing shortage could see some recreation centres scale back:
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