B.C. LifeLabs workers launch strike action

LifeLabs employees rally in Burnaby on Sunday, Feb. 16. (CTV News)

Several LifeLabs employees gathered for a rally in Burnaby Sunday to launch a strike action after what the union describes as months of unsuccessful negotiations related to wages, working conditions and understaffing.

The B.C. General Employees’ Union, which represents approximately 1,200 LifeLabs workers in the province, issued a 72-hour strike notice on Thursday. According to the union, 98 per cent of members voted in favour in the strike with a nearly 80 per cent turnout.

The union’s key demand is wage parity between LifeLabs employees and technicians who do the same laboratory work in the public sector.

“Compared to hospital workers who do the same jobs as us the wage gap is anywhere between four and 16 per cent,” said Mandy De Fields, a Victoria-based medical laboratory technologist and chair of the bargaining committee. “We’re seeing skilled professionals leaving for higher paying jobs so we have to close that gap.”

She told CTV News LifeLabs is experiencing a “retention and recruitment crisis” with high staff turnover and employees are asking for better work-life balance.

“We’re not just here for our own needs really; the doctors of B.C. rely on us as well,” De Fields continued. “Seventy per cent of their medical decisions are based on the test results we provide.”

Paul Finch, president of the BCGEU, told CTV News workers are also demanding improved scheduling and more occupational health and safety protections.

“We want to see proper full-time scheduling that acknowledges the importance of this work and the need for reliability and regularity in that work,” he said.

The strike comes after American company Quest Diagnostics acquired LifeLabs last August for $1.35 billion.

“Our members today want to send a strong message to this American company that we don’t want to see an expansion of the American for-profit health model here in Canada,” said Finch. “These people are fighting strongly not just for themselves but for their clients and the Canadian health-care system”

LifeLabs is a designated essential service, so the strike action will consist of rotating laboratory closures.

“We will do everything in our power to minimize the disruption this creates for our customers and clients,” LifeLabs said in a statement after the union issued its strike notice, asking patients to visit its website for updates on which locations are open.