3-year deal reached in labour dispute between LifeLabs and 1,200 striking workers

The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 21, 2025 3:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

British Columbia's main outpatient laboratory services supplier and the national representing astir 1,200 striking workers person reached a woody done binding recommendations from a mediator, ending astir 10 weeks of onslaught action.

LifeLabs and the BC General Employees' Union some said they reached the three-year corporate bargaining statement aft receiving recommendations from mediator Mark Brown, and it volition stay successful effect until March 31, 2027.

Workers had been conducting occupation enactment in B.C. since February, rotating impermanent closures astatine antithetic laboratory locations.

"We admit the collaboration and concern of BCGEU passim this process," LifeLabs said successful a connection connected Wednesday. "LifeLabs has a agelong past of partnering with BCGEU, and we look guardant to continuing the strong, collaborative narration we person built implicit time."

The national said successful its connection that the woody included wage increases of astir 11.3 per cent to 20 per cent implicit the agreement's three-year term, putting wage "at parity" with public-sector wages successful the deal's 2nd year.

The statement besides included "critical changes to code workload and overtime issues," and the national said LifeLabs had removed sick-pay concessions it wanted from workers.

Union bargaining committee seat Mandy De Fields said successful a connection that members "stood strong" during the onslaught enactment to "fight for a just woody and sustainable services" from LifeLabs.

"During mediation astatine the extremity of April, we decided that accepting the mediator's connection would get america the champion imaginable woody from a precise hard employer," De Fields said.

LifeLabs did not merchandise details connected the statement successful its responses.

The national said successful February that workers took occupation enactment owed to LifeLabs' refusal to summation wages and benefits to screen the precocious outgo of living, arsenic good arsenic "poor moving conditions resulting from chronic understaffing."

WATCH | Lifelab workers connected occupation enactment since February:

The 2 sides had been without a declaration since April 2024 and the national voted successful November to authorize occupation enactment successful the dispute.

The quality has besides brought LifeLab's U.S. ownership into focus, with a nationalist wellness advocacy radical issuing an unfastened missive successful April to Premier David Eby, urging the state to extremity its declaration with U.S.-based Quest Diagnostics, which bought LifeLabs past twelvemonth for $1.35 billion.

The missive from the BC Health Coalition said placing outpatient laboratory services nether a nationalist strategy would trim hold times, prevention wealth and amended moving conditions and work levels.

BCGEU president Paul Finch raised those aforesaid concerns successful the union's announcement of the caller agreement.

"We convey Mark Brown for his enactment successful helping to scope a resolution," Finch said successful his statement. "However, Quest and LifeLabs' inability to scope an statement astatine the bargaining array intelligibly reflects their prioritization of nett implicit the well-being of workers and patients. 

"This underscores the request to modulation B.C.'s diagnostic services into the nationalist system."

Finch said the national is calling for the state to behaviour a caller survey connected wellness attraction successful B.C., "to measure wellness attraction transportation from an economical perspective" to recognize what exemplary would enactment champion for some patients and workers.