LifeLabs strike over in BC after company and union sign new collective agreement

The LifeLabs strike is over, as the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and the company have accepted the recommendations of a mediator. 

The strike began on February 17th, but the BCGEU have been fighting with LifeLabs for better pay for the last 14 months. 

A government-appointed mediator, Mark Brown, had stepped in as negotiations between the company and union had come to a standstill. 

On Tuesday, May 20th, the BCGEU and LifeLabs announced they would both be accepting the recommendations laid out by Brown on the matters they could not agree upon. 

Those matters being wage, workload, benefits and other factors that impacted their pay.

On wages, LifeLabs workers represented by the BCGEU will be receiving raises annually between 2% and 3%, on a grid system. 

As for the union workers’ workloads, the new collective agreement allows the labs to stop accepting new patients at 30 minutes to closing time, so that the workers don’t have to stay excessively late. 

The BCGEU and company will also form a Workload/Overtime Assessment Committee to assess overtime and its impact on employee work-life balance. 

Furthermore, employees will be receiving a $1,000 health spending account, they will be paid an additional $0.85 per hour for shifts that start after noon and $2 more an hour for shifts on the weekends, workers who use their vehicles for work will receive pay for gas mileage and lastly, an allowance will be paid to workers undergoing training.

“Overall, we stood our ground, and we allowed no concessions,” wrote a BCGEU spokesperson in a media release. 

“The bargaining committee feels this is a good result considering what workers were up against a Fortune 500 American company with deep pockets and little interest in the well-being of workers and patients in BC.”

LifeLabs similarly announced they are pleased with the new collective agreement. 

“We appreciate the collaboration and partnership of BCGEU throughout this process,” wrote LifeLabs in a release.  

“LifeLabs has a long history of partnering with BCGEU and we look forward to continuing the strong, collaborative relationship we have built over time.”

Other factors that affected strike

Through this strike process, many in BC were hoping that the provincial government would step up and move their funding elsewhere, due to LifeLabs being bought out for $1.35 billion in 2024. 

LifeLabs is responsible for the majority of outpatient lab work done across the province, and mere months after the sale, its workers and their union launched the strike that only now ended. 

The BCGEU called on the Province to make good on their commitment to move existing contracts away from American-owned suppliers and companies amid the Canada-US trade war.“

There is no economic justification to allow a US corporation to provide outpatient diagnostic services in the province,” said Paul Finch, President of the BCGEU. 

“The BCGEU is calling on government to make good on their announcement and bring LifeLabs’ services into the public system.”

Finch added that LifeLabs has made it clear at the bargaining table that Quest is calling the shots and that ever since their takeover of the company, workers and the public noticed a decline in services. 

According to a recent poll commissioned by the BCGEU 74% of people in BC oppose for-profit American companies owning and controlling health care services in the province.