British Columbia’s Health Minister, Josie Osborne, has announced a significant new agreement that will allow thousands of health care workers to once again be eligible for collective bargaining. The move comes at an additional cost of $85 million to the province.
Over 5,000 unionized workers in qualifying long-term care and assisted living facilities will shift to the provincewide Facilities Collective Agreement over the next two years, overturning the 15% wage cuts imposed by the previous Liberal government in 2004.
Osborne emphasizes that this transition will lead to increased wages, enhanced benefits, and ultimately, better care for seniors. By making these roles more appealing to workers, the agreement aims to improve the overall quality of care provided.
The impact of this agreement will be felt across more than 100 facilities under the Health Employers Association of B.C., where a minimum of 50% of beds are publicly funded.
Lynn Bueckert, secretary-business manager at the Hospital Employees’ Union, praises the agreement as a crucial step towards creating fair and supportive working conditions within provincially funded seniors’ care homes.
Bueckert highlights how past B.C. Liberal policies favored privatization and subcontracting, allowing operators to bypass provincewide collective agreements. Osborne, on the other hand, sees this new agreement as a return to a consistent framework for publicly funded work sites.
However, Osborne notes that facilities receiving less than 50% government funding are not covered by the agreement, indicating that there is more progress to be made in this area.
The agreement is currently undergoing ratification votes, which are scheduled to be completed by December 20.