Hospital housekeeping and dietary workers in B.C., including approximately 50 at Cowichan District Hospital, have voted to strike.
More than 4,000 members of the Hospital Employees’ Union work in contracted support services, primarily as cleaners and dietary workers in hospitals and care facilities in southern Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and on the Sunshine Coast.
They have delivered an overwhelming strike mandate of 96 per cent to back their bid to secure fair and respectful collective agreements with their four multinational employers — Compass-Marquise, Sodexo, Aramark and Acciona.
The key issues at the bargaining tables are basic employment security, including providing job security for staff when health authorities change contractors, and wages.
HEU secretary-business manager Jennifer Whiteside said she’s hopeful such a strong strike mandate will encourage employers to reach negotiated settlements.
“We believe that a fair and reasonable agreement is within reach if employers get serious about addressing low wages and a total lack of job security that creates uncertainty for workers when health authorities change contractors,” she said.
With essential services negotiations close to conclusion, HEU and its members will soon be in a position to take job action if there is no progress made at the bargaining table.
Contracts for most of the workers expire in September.
The talks cover 75 hospitals and extended care facilities, in four different health authorities, and 11 different collective agreements.