Several Crown corporations help pay for transport to downtown offices

Manitoba Hydro workers at the company's downtown headquarters are not the only public employees to get a benefit for working in the city centre.

Manitoba Public Insurance employees receive a monthly allowance, while staff at Travel Manitoba and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries get discounts on bus passes.

More than 1,000Manitoba Public Insurance workersreceive a $50 monthly allowance for working downtown.

"The allowance is to assist with downtown costs which are not associated with other, non-downtown MPI locations," MPI spokesperson Brian Smiley told CBC Newsin an email.

CBC News reported earlier this week that more than 1,600 staff at the Manitoba Hydro headquarterson Portage Avenue receive a$840 yearlybenefit for working downtown.

• Manitoba Hydro salaries called 'unacceptable' as some soar past premier's take home pay

According to Smiley, the allowance for MPI workers wasput in place in October 2014 and wasbased on negotiations with the Manitoba Government Employees Union (MGEU) in 2013.

That means any cost-cutting at the Crown corporation aimed at cutting the allowance would have to agreed upon with the union.

"The parking allowance was introduced through collective bargaining and cannot be rescinded unilaterally," Smiley wrote.

Others choose transit subsidies

Travel Manitoba offers an EcoPass program to its downtown-based staff.

"This allows the employee to purchase a monthly bus pass for $22.15, which is 75 per centoff the regular price.Travel Manitoba pays the difference for each employee's pass," said Linda Whitfield, the vice president, of marketing & communications for the crown corporation.

Whitfield says 20 of 33 eligible employees takeadvantage of the EcoPassoffer.

All employeesat Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries get a deal on a bus pass, no matter where they work in the city. According to a spokesperson, employees can receivea 30 per centrebate after purchasing a Peggo Card monthly bus passfrom Winnipeg Transit. MLL staff must fill out a form and present a receipt for the bus pass before getting the subsidy.