Safety concerns in downtown Winnipeg have led seven unions to form a new coalition to urge the mayor and the province to do more.

The Workers for Downtown Public Safety coalition comprises members of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, and the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, the group said in a news release Tuesday.

The unions represent tens of thousands of workers spanning transit, emergency services, retail, public services and community programming, the coalition says. Other members are people who work downtown and “simply want to arrive at and leave work without fear,” the release says.

Union leaders say their members work at places including the Millennium Library, safe consumption sites and with community-based non-profit organizations that provide addiction treatment and other services to people experiencing homelessness, according to the coalition.

The coalition says they’ve asked to meet with Mayor Scott Gillingham and Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe in the coming weeks, and hope to release a five-point plan beforehand developed through consultation with union workers.

The plan will prioritize the expansion of mental health and addictions support to “reduce repeat crises” and improve outcomes, as well as boost protections and support for workers who face violence, harassment and other unsafe conditions, the release says.

Wiebe says he’s already set up a meeting with the coalition.

“Public safety is a major focus of our government,” he told reporters after question period Tuesday. “We’re tough on crime, we’re tough on the causes of crime [and] we’re starting to see results, but we welcome the voices of labour [and] working people to ensure we’re keeping them safe.”

He pointed to the Winnipeg Police Service’s new 12-officer bail compliance unit — which became fully operational as of Dec. 15, 2025 and intends to monitor offenders to ensure they’re complying with bail conditions — as an example of the work the province is doing.

Earlier this month, the province said the bail compliance unit, which has been allocated $3 million in provincial funding, is one prong in its five-point plan intended to reform Manitoba’s bail system.

‘We’re making progress’

Wiebe also mentioned the province’s continuing funding for Downtown Community Safety Partnership, which provides 24/7 support and non-emergency responses, as well as the Millennium Library’s community support hub.

“We’re going to continue that work, and [there’s] a lot more to do,” Wiebe said.

Violent crime is down in the downtown, and Winnipeg’s homicide rate dropped last year, he added. “These are all indicators that we’re making progress.”

A spokesperson for Gillingham’s office said they had yet to receive a request to meet with the coalition.

The mayor meets many of the unions involved regularly and his door is “always open to talk about worker safety,” the spokesperson said in a statement to CBC News on Tuesday.

Gillingham says the city’s community safety team, which allows safety officers to patrol on and around Winnipeg’s transit system, as well as the introduction of a senior adviser on public safety, are some of the ways the city is improving safety downtown.