Burnaby (BCGEU Release) – (Coast Salish Territories) – The Community Bargaining Association (CBA) released the details of their tentative agreement with the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) today. Starting March 13, more than 26,000 community health workers across the province will be eligible to vote on the tentative deal – the culmination of months of negotiations.
The tentative four-year deal includes significant annual wage increases of three per cent per year, improved weekend and afternoon premium pay, strong occupational health and safety features, funds for health-benefit improvements, and a more predictable scheduling system, among other gains.
“Fixing long-standing inequities for community health workers is how we protect and strengthen community-based care—and that’s what members fought for in this round of bargaining,” said Scott De Long, Bargaining Chair and BCGEU Vice-President. “This tentative agreement reflects the strength and solidarity members showed throughout bargaining, including a powerful strike vote, that the bargaining committee is pleased to take to the membership for ratification.”
Community health workers provide essential services across B.C., including home support, shelters and supportive housing, clinics, detox and treatment programs, mental-health group homes, and regional health units. Chronic recruitment and retention challenges—driven by inequities and unstable working conditions—have put pressure on services and workers alike.
“Members spent decades doing the same work as others in the health care system while being treated unfairly,” added De Long, referring to the long-standing pay gap between community health workers and those employed at large-scale facilities, such as hospitals.
“Pay gaps equate to care gaps, which have a cascading effect on our entire health system. Our members’ fight has never just been about money – it’s about respecting and valuing all healthcare workers equally because that’s the only way we can ensure the safety, stability and strength of B.C’s health system as a whole.”
In addition to setting community health workers on a path to parity with the Facilities Bargaining Association, the tentative CBA deal includes funds for health-benefit improvements and a commitment from HEABC to invest in a community health worker risk-assessment pilot project. Unprecedented in scope, this project will launch a standardized system for measuring risks in community health work settings, providing workers with the quantifiable evidence and the platform they need to advocate for their health and safety.
Members will decide if this deal will become their next contract in a vote that runs from March 13- 20.
In November 2025, CBA members voted 92.3 per cent in favour of strike action to secure a fair deal. Their last contract expired on March 31, 2025.
The BCGEU is the lead union of the multi-union CBA and represents nearly 16,000 members. For more visit: https://www.bargainingbc.ca/community_health
The BCGEU is one of the largest unions in British Columbia, with more than 95,000 members in almost every community and economic sector.
