LifeLabs workers are heading towards a strike.
Members of the B.C. General Employees Union (BCGEU) working at LifeLabs issued a 72-hour strike notice to their employer on Thursday.
BCGEU president Paul Finch said LifeLabs workers make anywhere from four to 16 per cent below what others get paid in their industry.
“Now that LifeLabs is owned by Quest Diagnostics, we are fighting against an American for-profit model of healthcare and its impacts on workers.”
The notice comes after months of negotiations to increase wages and benefits that fit in line with the cost of living and to address poor working conditions from understaffing.
Finch said the union wants wage increases to close the gap in the public sector who do the same work, solutions to short-staffing and workload problems, and improvements to health and safety benefits
“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.”
98 per cent of workers voted in favour of strike action after working without a contract since April 1, 2024.
Workers are planning a one-day strike kickoff rally this Sunday in Burnaby outside LifeLabs Reference Lab.
