LifeLabs warns of rotating temporary closures as B.C. workers strike [Video]

LifeLabs says some of its B.C. facilities will begin to see “rotating temporary closures” after unionized workers in B.C. went on strike on Sunday.

LifeLabs workers, represented by the B.C. General Employees Union (BCGEU), have been without a contract since last April.

Members are pushing back against what they say is chronic understaffing and wages that haven’t kept pace with their counterparts in the public health care system.

“Compared to hospital workers that do the same jobs as us the wage gap is between four and 16 per cent, and we’re seeing skilled professionals leaving for higher-paying jobs, so we have to close that gap,” LifeLabs medical laboratory technologist Mandy De Fields told Global News at a strike kickoff rally Sunday.

The union says bargaining with the employer broke down over positions on wages and benefits.