(Winnipeg) – Manitoba has a long-standing and growing epidemic of workplace violence, and today the Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL) released a report which includes workers’ firsthand accounts of violence in areas like healthcare, education, emergency response, security, public transit and retail. The report also includes recommendations for government and employers to act in reducing the violence experienced by workers.

The number of workplace injuries that Manitobans suffer due to violence is alarmingly high, and it has also been increasing for many years. In fact, according to data from the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba, the number of workplace injuries caused by violence more than tripled between 2015 and 2025. This increase includes a 20 per cent jump in workplace violence injuries in the last two years.

“Workplace violence is out of control in Manitoba,” said Manitoba Federation of Labour President Kevin Rebeck. “While this report documents the problem from the firsthand perspective of workers who have experienced violence, it also focuses on common sense solutions that the provincial government and employers can implement.”

The report includes 10 recommendations to better protect workers, including implementing a provincewide workplace violence prevention strategy. Other recommendations include funding safe staffing levels in areas like healthcare, education, and emergency response, ensuring highly trained security personnel in workplaces experiencing high rates of violence, and for the province’s Workplace Safety and Health Branch to enforce existing legal requirements related to violence prevention and response, working alone and joint health and safety committees. The report also calls for the development of a formal training standard on workplace violence.

“Too many workers face violence on the job, but this report makes it clear that it does not have to be this way,” said Rebeck. “By working together, government, employers and unions can solve this problem and make workplaces safer for Manitobans.”

Rebeck added that the MFL is grateful to the workers and unions who shared their experiences and solutions as part of this report, as well as to Karen Naylor, instructor in the University of Manitoba Labour Studies Program, for her contributions.