Canada (BC): Long term care workers reach agreement
Health care workers have voted 90 per cent to accept a four-yearagreement that provides significant wage increases, improves jobsecurity protections and addresses workload concerns.
The agreement with B.C.’s publicly-funded health employers was reachedMarch 15 after seven weeks of negotiations. It covers 38,000 hospitaland long-term care workers, including 1,300 BCGEU members.
The contract includes average compensation increases of 10.8 per centplus a number of targeted classification adjustments to addressrecruitment and retention problems and recognize expanded workresponsibilities. Lump sum payments of up to $4,200 are also part ofthe agreement.
Improved protections for jobs and services threatened by contractingout, including new provisions that protect workers affected bypublic-private partnerships, are a critical part of the agreement.These include a cap on the number of positions health employers cancontract out, enhanced severance pay for displaced workers and improvedaccess to job vacancies.