Eighteen LifeLabs locations were closed Thursday on the first day of strike action
Eighteen LifeLabs locations were closed Thursday on the first day of strike action, with B.C. General Employees’ Union leaders warning more could be picketed if talks with the U.S.-based company don’t deliver better wages, benefits and working conditions.
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The rotating closures, concentrated in urban areas of B.C.’s Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Kamloops, have escalated tensions. Union president Paul Finch said that the BCGEU is prepared to expand the job action across its more than 100 collection centres if the dispute remains unresolved.
“I was asked how long this is going to go, and I said: ‘We’re going to keep going until we win’,” Finch told close to a dozen picketers gathered outside Vancouver’s Cityview LifeLabs, prompting cheers from members and supporters.
The picket action involves 1,200 unionized workers across the province, after nearly a year of failed negotiations over wages, benefits, and understaffing, which the union says LifeLabs refuses to address. After issuing a 72-hour notice last week, the union began the strike on Thursday.
Picketers outside the closed Cityview LifeLabs wore bright yellow signs that read: “Understaffing is dangerous” and “Fortune 500 company can’t pay us fair wages.” A sign posted on the centre said it will be closed Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
LifeLabs, the largest private medical laboratory testing provider in B.C., is owned by Quest Diagnostics, a major U.S. health conglomerate. Quest acquired the company from a Canadian municipal employee pension fund in 2024 for $1.35 billion.
Union representatives say that under the ownership structure, workers are paid four to 16 per cent less than their counterparts in the public sector and are facing worsening working conditions.
Mandy De Fields, a medical laboratory technologist in Victoria and the union’s bargaining committee chairperson, said the strain on workers’ health and safety is putting their ability to meet patient needs at risk.
“It’s gotten much worse in the last few years. People are sweating through their uniforms just trying to keep up with patient volumes,” De Fields said. “Workers are doing hours and hours of overtime, many days of the week, sometimes every day of the week depending on their roles.”
De Fields, who has worked at LifeLabs for 34 years, said that her pay is nearly 12.5 per cent lower than that of hospital counterparts, even those with just five years of experience. The union also calls out what it describes as a “for-profit American health-care model,” which it believes contributes to the pay discrepancies
“We constantly lose workers to hospitals for better-paying jobs, and at places like Cityview, it’s reached a critical point,” De Fields said.
De Fields said this isn’t the first time she has gone to the bargaining table for B.C. workers at LifeLabs.
“In 2013, LifeLabs had a similar rotating closure schedule that lasted about five days. This time, we’re fighting to catch up and keep up with fair wages and working conditions in the public sector.”
LifeLabs maintains that it is committed to reaching a deal and will continue operating as an essential service.
This week, LifeLabs posted a notice advising patients to check online before visiting. The notice states that customers with appointments will be notified if rescheduling is necessary, although the company did not clarify how such notifications would be made.
In a statement shared with the media earlier in the week, the company said it “respects the negotiation process and employees’ right to pursue their interests.”
“We would like to continue to negotiate and work with the union to reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable and reflects the value our employees bring to their roles each day.”
A small number of locations, including Gibsons, Sechelt, Bowen Island, and others in more remote areas, will operate as usual, unaffected by the job action.
LifeLabs workers have been without a contract since April 1, 2024, and in November, 98 per cent of LifeLabs workers voted in favour of strike action.
— with file from Joseph Ruttle