Your bargaining committee has now concluded two sets of negotiations with LifeLabs which took place between June 25th and 27th and from July 23rd to 25th, 2024.

During the June meetings, we had occupational health and safety (OHS) specialists attend from our union and LifeLabs to discuss our health & safety proposals. It was a very productive exchange where we made a lot of progress, but we’re still working on the OHS language and nothing has been agreed to yet.

Over this past week, we made progress on vehicle allowances, and we’re working hard to resolve concerns about the accuracy of Kronos pay codes. This includes ensuring fair calculations for seniority, vacation, overtime eligibility, etc.

We also spent considerable time dealing with the closure of microbiology at both the Victoria Reference Laboratory (VRL) and the Kamloops Reference Laboratory (KRL), and the resulting job losses at both sites. Working with the provisions laid out in Section 54 of the Labour Relations Code, we had meetings with management and the member groups from the impacted sites.

The committee also wants to thank those that participated for such a strong response to our recent survey about working conditions at LifeLabs. The information we collected was powerful and paints a clear picture of the problems we face at work, and the improvements needed.

Bargaining resumes August 13th to the 16th with the employer.

In solidarity,

Your LifeLabs Bargaining Committee

Mandy DeFields, Bargaining Committee Chairperson 
Kelly Jeffs, Bargaining Committee Vice-Chairperson  
Maryam Baghalha, Bargaining Committee member 
Tony Ly, Bargaining Committee member 
Rosario Viray, Bargaining Committee member 
Wendy Cummer, Bargaining Committee member 
Linsay Buss, Staff Representative - Negotiations 

UWU/MoveUP