A campaign to fix the wage disparity among direct support staff in Manitoba has the backing of the general manager of Blue Sky Opportunities, an Altona-based organization that maximizes the independence of adults with intellectual disabilities.

#ShowUsASign is a lobby effort by Abilities Manitoba to have the provincial government boost the pay for disability support workers, arguing staff in this sector are among the lowest paid in Manitoba's human service workforce.

"It's an extremely important effort," said Richard Neufeld, who explained agencies like Blue Sky have been struggling for years to pay disability support workers a living wage.

According to Neufeld, the going rate for disability support staff was stuck at 50 cents above minimum wage for many years. He noted current provincial funding levels only allow for a maximum of $14 dollars an hour which he says is just not adequate in this day and age considering annual cost of living increases of one to three per cent.

Neufeld added that Blue Sky hasn't had a provincial funding increase in under eight years, and staff haven't seen a pay raise in three years.

All of the services, such as residential and day programs, offered by Blue Sky Opportunities and other organizations like it in Manitoba are funded through the province's Community Living disABILITY Services (CLDS) program. CLDS also provides funding to hire disability support workers.

"There's a very strict guideline in what we can pay. Now of course we can exceed that, but in order to do that you have to pay that wage out of your own additional funds that you generate," explained Neufeld. Blue Sky does generate some income from its recycling program and wood shop business, and Neufeld says the organization has been using those funds to offset the wages but he notes the number is just too large to self-fund.

According to Abilities Manitoba, disability support staff are also paid significantly less than others working in comparable professions like educational assistants and health care aides.

"It's currently undervalued and underpaid (work)," noted Neufeld. He explained the job of a disability support worker involves a high level of responsibility, and includes administering medication, gastronomy tube feedings, and participating in various first aid and non-violent crisis intervention training. "It's not just an entry-level position. You're supporting individuals in their home, in their community. You're providing the most personal care that you can."

This wage disparity is also making it difficult for Blue Sky Opportunities to recruit and retain staff. According to Neufeld, the organization has an annual turnover rate between 20 and 30 per cent. Abilities Manitoba says a Manitoban with an intellectual disability can expect to have more than 770 different staff work with them from the age of 18 to 65.

Neufeld said this has been the most difficult summer that Blue Sky has had to endure, noting the residential program alone is understaffed by 20 per cent.

Meantime, a spokesperson with Manitoba Families says senior department staff recently met with advocates to hear their concerns.

In a submitted statement to PembinaValleyOnline, the province said it values the work of disability support workers, and that it increased the 2018 budget for Community Living disAbility Services by $13.6 million.

Neufeld contends however, the increase is only on paper and does not necessarily reflect a true boost in funding.

"What's happening is the funding increase comes from new participants entering the program. This last year there was three hundred and sixty-seven people in Manitoba that graduated from school that went into receiving services through the Province of Manitoba through agencies like ours. (The Province) will say 'We just gave you another (thirteen) million dollars', and yeah they did technically, but that's for the new entries, that's not to address any of the wage disparity or cost of operations shortcomings."

The department's statement also indicated that agencies are responsible for setting their own wages, noting government offers a wage enhancement fund that provided more than $6 million in the last fiscal year and increased wages for approximately 3,100 agency employees.

In order to support CLDS, and to address the wage challenges that affect recruitment and retention, the province says it is working on new funding models to better meet the needs of Manitobans with disabilities and the agencies who serve them.