After ten weeks of striking and 14 months of negotiations, LifeLabs workers have reached a new agreement with the help of a mediator. According to the B.C. General Employees’ Union, workers will see wage increases ranging from 11.3 to 20 per cent over three years, as well as changes to workload and overtime.
“LifeLabs workers stood strong for 10 weeks with public support from across the province in this fight for a fair deal and sustainable services,” said Mandy De Fields, medical laboratory technologist and chair of the bargaining committee. “During mediation at the end of April, we decided that accepting the mediator’s proposal would get us the best possible deal from a very difficult employer.”
The new agreement is now in effect until the end of March in 2027 and Paul Finch, BCGEU president, said the new agreement is an improvement for workers.
“We thank [mediator] Mark Brown for his work in helping to reach a resolution, however Quest and LifeLabs’ inability to reach an agreement at the bargaining table clearly reflects their prioritization of profit over the well-being of workers and patients. This underscores the need to transition B.C.’s diagnostic services into the public system,” he said.
The union said the labour dispute highlighted concerns about money in the B.C. healthcare system going to a private, American-owned company. It said it would like to see the province commission a new study on the economics of healthcare and what is best for patients.
