The head of the union representing wildfire fighters said he hopes that a Manitoba government request for proposals for counselling and crisis-response services leads to more “nimble” supports for them when they need it.
“Our members often are at the forefront of large, catastrophic things,” said Kyle Ross, president of Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, whose members include Liquor Marts employees and staff at various health-care and social-service agencies.
“Those folks sometimes see some things the rest of society doesn’t see,” Ross said. “When those things happen we have to be pretty nimble to get them the supports they need.”
The province is setting up a new Psychological Supports Unit and looking for qualified vendors to provide counselling and crisis-response services to rural, urban, remote and northern Manitoba with in-person, virtual and phone sessions, according to a request posted on the electronic tendering platform MERX.
The request that closes Monday includes counselling, intake and assessment, crisis and critical incident response, prevention and early intervention programming, workplace supports, reporting and governance and related services.
The Manitoba government said last week that it has just five internal Employee and Family Assistance Program staff based in Winnipeg who are supported by “external contracted resources.”
More help is coming, the province said in an email.
“The Manitoba government is expanding supports for employees, including enhancements to EFAP,” the government said in an email.
“These changes will expand access to trauma-informed care, including after-hours services and ensure more flexible, timely options provincewide for employees and their families.”
While the government employees’ union would prefer more government-employed counsellors, Ross said the much-needed help is welcome.
“I think our government should always be investing in Manitoba and trying to find ways to spend Manitoba taxpayer dollars in Manitoba. It’s better for everyone here in Manitoba,” he said.
“In the end, what we really want is our workers to have the supports in place when they need them so they can ensure they can continue to be a productive member of the workforce and society.”
The MGEU doesn’t represent the “undersized” number of government workers employed by the counselling program but a much large number of those eligible to receive its services, Ross said.
“I believe the team was a little undersized for the size of the workforce,” he said.
“The concern was raised that these workers work regular hours and many of the government workers work 24-hour shift work. Not having someone available when they needed it at their time was a bit of a challenge,” the union leader said.
“There may have been people waiting for services or opportunities to connect and have the supports needed.”
The voluntary, confidential, short-term counselling service aims to help employees and their families with problems that have an impact on their home or work life.
“It’s a useful tool to ensure people have supports they need to be a functioning part of the team,” said Ross.
The Manitoba government website says that counsellors are there to assist employees and members of their family with any personal and work-related concerns that may be affecting their physical and emotional well-being.
Individual, couple and family counselling is available to help deal with concerns including depression, anxiety, addictions, grief/loss, stress, suicide, parenting, work-related concerns and conflict.
The program also offers trauma management. Following a critical incident in the workplace, such as an assault, robbery or serious accident, employees will often have physical, behavioural or cognitive and emotional reactions within 24 hours of the incident.
Symptoms can include deterioration in physical and psychological health, reduced job-performance levels and absenteeism. Some may have critical-incident stress symptoms for up to a year afterward.
The provincial government program also offers conflict resolution services in the workplace to help employees, managers and work teams resolve conflict in a respectful and productive manner.
“Our counsellors have extensive experience in mediation and conflict resolution and act as a neutral third party in a voluntary process,” it says.
Employee and Family Assistance Program services include coaching and support for managers trying to help employees with problems such as addictions, grief and depression that may impact their job performance.
Program counsellors hold either a master’s or professional degree in the fields of social work, psychology, marriage and family therapy and psychiatric nursing, the Manitoba government website says.
They’re members of a professional association with a code of ethics and have many years of experience in individual, couple and family counselling, it says.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
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