After eight weeks of rotating strike, union members at LifeLabs, an American-owned medical laboratory, have had enough of the company's neglect. The BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU) urges the British Columbia government to nationalize LifeLabs and integrate it into its public health system and to make good on promises made to cancel contracts with it in response to tariffs. The union president says that negotiations with the private company, which operates in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario, have been “non-existent” and that they are heading for mediation.
The BCGEU, made up mainly of health care professionals, voted 98.25% in favour of a strike in early February. They are calling for a new contract that includes better pay to match public sector wages, stronger benefits to keep up with the cost of living, more staff to reduce workloads, and safer working conditions.
Due to the BC Labour Relations Board designating LifeLabs as an essential service, workers can only do a partial strike, requiring them rotate through locations as they halt services temporarily.
LifeLabs, founded as "BC Biomedical" in 1958, now controls the majority of B.C.'s outpatient lab services, handling lab testing services necessary for the health care system to run from day to day. In August 2024, Quest Dynamics, an American for-profit health care company, bought LifeLabs for approximately $1.35 billion.
Following an announcement by B.C. Premier, David Eby to terminate all U.S. contracts with B.C. Crown corporations, ministries, and health authorities, the BCGEU is urging the government to nationalize LifeLabs’ services.
In a newsletter released last week, union President Paul Finch states, "The BCGEU is calling on government to make good on their announcement and bring LifeLabs' services into the public system."
“An American for-profit company should not be running a vital component of our health system and eroding the quality of care and also the working conditions that can make marginally higher profits on the contract,” Finch told The North Star. One of the proposals by the company was a 20 percent reduction to sick pay for all workers.
Finch decried "scheduling conditions that are not only difficult for our members, but also for the patients who ultimately receive those services.”
“[The company] has been fairly hostile. We haven't seen any positive movements in the company. A few weeks ago, they applied to the Ministry of Labour for a mediator. We understand a mediator has been appointed.”
He elaborated on the conditions of the negotiations: “We're not highly optimistic based on the current status, but we'll obviously go in with an open mind if necessary. The [union] has not yet seen any significant movement coming from the company.”
A poll conducted by Research Co. and commissioned by the BCGEU showed that 74% of people in B.C. oppose for-profit American companies owning and controlling health care services in the province. The findings also show that the majority of people in the province are in favour of the government intervening and placing medical lab services in public control instead.
LifeLabs receives over $300 million a year from taxpayers. However, the union says this money is not being utilized effectively “to pay fair wages and maintain services.”
In a profit-seeking venture last year, LifeLabs moved its microbiology services from Victoria to Surrey, citing the availability of more technologically advanced methods that would require fewer workers. However, samples are often shipped to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver and Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, or to the various BC Cancer centres or clinic locations. This increases concerns about a breakdown of effective microbiology testing services in the lower mainland, due to frequent ferry service cancellations in adverse weather.