Manitoba Hydro power lines are photographed just outside Winnipeg, Monday, May 1, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
WINNIPEG — Manitoba Hydro will begin issuing approximately 200 temporary layoff notices to staff today.
The Crown utility says the layoffs will last four months and is a significant reduction from the previously planned 700 layoffs.
Manitoba Hydro says the temporary job reductions are a result of labour-cost reductions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As I have said previously, this was absolutely not our preferred course of action,” said Jay Grewal, president and CEO of Manitoba Hydro, in a release.
Members of the Association of Manitoba Hydro Staff and Supervisory Employees, the Manitoba Hydro Professional Engineers’ Association (MHPEA) and corporate exempt staff will take three unpaid days off in lieu of layoffs in their areas.
These groups will see their paycheques reduced by approximately 1.2 hours per pay period commencing June 25 until the end of this fiscal year, March 31, 2021.
Discussions with CUPE are ongoing and Hydro says further information is expected next week.
The first round of layoffs is expected to take place in the next two to three weeks.
