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New poll: B.C. majority wants to see lab services out of American hands and under public control - BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU)

Published on March 06, 2025

MEDIA RELEASE 
March 6, 2025 

New poll: B.C. majority wants to see lab services out of American hands and under public control 

BURNABY, B.C. (Coast Salish Territories) – A Research Co. poll has found that a majority of British Columbians support taking medical lab services such as LifeLabs out of American hands and placing them under public control instead. 

This poll was commissioned by the B.C. General Employees' Union (BCGEU) as rotating strikes for a fair contract with LifeLabs, and its new U.S. owner Quest Diagnostics, continue across the province. Quest quietly acquired LifeLabs for $1.35 billion in August 2024. 

"Quest is putting profits before patient care and forcing B.C. workers onto picket lines," said BCGEU president Paul Finch. "People in British Columbia oppose U.S. ownership of LifeLabs and every day that this strike drags on, more British Columbians are asking why our public health dollars are going to an American corporation." 

LifeLabs' for-profit model also means workers earn anywhere from four to 16 per cent below the industry standard as compared to workers doing similar work in hospitals and other public sector facilities – a gap that has widened in recent years. While LifeLabs remains under American ownership, 72 per cent of people in British Columbia think they should be paid the same as workers in hospitals. 

"LifeLabs workers are struggling to make ends meet," Finch continued. "They're asking their employer for wage increases that close the gap with workers in the public sector doing the same work, and to address poor working conditions from understaffing. From the public's perspective, this means putting fewer of our public health dollars into padding CEO profits – in Canada and now in the U.S. – and more into the well-being of workers and patients." 

The poll's findings include the following: 

  • 74 per cent of people in British Columbia oppose for-profit American companies owning and controlling health care services in the province; 53 per cent strongly oppose American ownership and control. 

  • 77 per cent of people in British Columbia support the provincial government intervening to take medical lab services out of American hands and placing them under public control instead; 47 per cent strongly support this course of action. 

  • 72 per cent of people in British Columbia think LifeLabs workers should be paid the same as workers doing similar work in hospitals and other public sector facilities. 

  • Of those who voted in the last election, majorities across political affiliation – the BC New Democratic Party (NDP) (88%), the BC Green Party (76%), and the BC Conservative Party (71%) – support government intervention to take medical lab services out of American hands. 

In November, LifeLabs workers voted 98 per cent in favour of strike action and have been working without a contract since April 1, 2024.

The BCGEU represents about 1,200 workers at LifeLabs throughout the province.

The BCGEU is one of the largest unions in British Columbia, with over 90,000 members in almost every community and economic sector. 

For more information contact: Bronwen Barnett, BCGEU Communications at [email protected]. 

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Results are based on an online study conducted from January 28 to March 2, 2025, among 801 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error-which measures sample variability-is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty. 

Link to Factum 

Link to Data Tables 

 



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