Burnaby – (Coast Salish Territories) – A majority of the 1,550 LifeLabs workers represented by the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) voted on Thursday November 4, 2021 in favour of ratifying their collective agreement with their employer after reaching a tentative agreement on October 24, 2021. The new three-year agreement is effective April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2024.
Highlights from the agreement include wage improvements averaging increases of 12 per cent over three years which includes a $1,250 signing bonus for all active employees to be paid out within 30 days of ratification. This represents a strong advance towards closing the wage gap with those doing similar work in the public sector and achieving the goal of winning a larger percentage increase for the lowest wage earners. Members also have an improved indexed pension plan, increases to extended health coverage, improvements to sick leave entitlement and health and safety policies as well as stronger workload language to deal with under-staffing issues.
The collective agreement covers members at 94 LifeLabs locations across B.C. working as couriers, phlebotomists, technical assistants, technologist and information specialists.
