BC General Employees’ Union issued a 72-hour strike notice on Thursday, Feb. 13 on behalf of its members working at LifeLabs locations, including five at the laboratory in the Victoria Medical Building in Prince George.
A release sent out by the BCGEU said the notice comes after “months of negotiations and LifeLabs’ refusal to bring wages and benefits in line with the cost of living, or to address poor working conditions resulting from chronic understaffing.”
The strike action will kick off on Sunday, Feb. 16 at noon with a rally at the LifeLabs Burnaby Reference Lab in the Lower Mainland. Workers voted 98 per cent in favour of a strike mandate this past November after their contract expired on April 1, the release said.
In the media release, union president Paul Finch said that the union is fighting against American-style for-profit healthcare and its impact on workers after LifeLabs was acquired by U.S. company Quest Diagnostics last July. He added that the union wants to close the gap between the compensation received by LifeLabs workers and public sector employees.
“LifeLabs workers receive 4-16 per cent below what others in their industry get paid and they are struggling to make ends meet,” Finch said. “Workers want the employer to come back to the table with an offer that is less focused on their corporate profit margins, and more respectful both of workers, and the thousands of us across B.C. that depend on LifeLabs’ services.”
In a phone interview, Finch said that on average, BCGEU members working with LifeLabs make $4 an hour less than their public service counterparts. He said the union was looking to close that gap, though he did not provide specifics on the wage increase being requested in negotiations.
He said BCGEU members work as medical technologists, laboratory and mobile lab assistants, couriers, technical assistants and client information specialists in LifeLabs facilities, though not all the company’s facilities in BC are unionized.
Another bone of contention from the union is what they see as low staffing levels driving poor working conditions for its members.
Finch said that while that might save the company money, “it also comes with the cost of our members’ health and their working conditions and also in many cases client care.”
However, he said staffing levels are not an explicit request the union is making in negotiations.
For those who might be impacted by job action, Finch said his members are striking because they care about the health of their clients and British Columbians.
“They’re struggling for appropriate wages and scheduling that will improve patient care and we would want to invite British Columbians to stand with our members, especially with an American corporate Fortune 500 company that is using a for-profit model here in our Canadian health-care system,” Finch said.
In an email, LifeLabs’ media team confirmed the company had received the strike notice but did not answer questions about the concerns raised by the union.
“LifeLabs respects the negotiation process and employees’ right to pursue their interests,” the email said. “We would like to continue to negotiate and work with the union to reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable and reflects the value our employees bring to their roles each day.”
The company said that as a designated essential service, the facilities would continue to operate but some may be subject to rotating temporary closures.
Information about closures, should there be any, can be found online at locations.lifelabs.com.
LifeLabs is one of three labs in the city. Northern Health runs two medical labs, one at the Phoenix Medical Building on 10th Avenue and one at the University Hospital of Northern BC.
