On Aug. 30, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix announced the provincial government plans to bring thousands of privately contracted hospital and care-home workers back under the direct employment of public health authorities.
The changes are expected to improve wages, working conditions as well as job security for about 4,000 workers across the province.
On the Sunshine Coast, the change will affect six facilities: Sechelt Hospital, Totem Lodge and Shorncliffe, as well as Powell River Hospital, Powell River ECU and Willingdon Creek Village.
While Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) did not provide exact numbers, a media spokesperson for the health authority told Coast Reporter, “The expectation is that all front-line housekeeping and dietary staff and supervisors of Compass and Sodexo working at those Sunshine Coast sites would become VCH employees, based upon the ultimate phasing of the transition for each of the service contracts.”
The province will do a phased approach over the next year that is expected to be complete by March 2022. The workers will be moved over gradually as contracts expire, and VCH said no contracts are being broken.
The change effectively reverses Bills 29 and 94, introduced in 2002 and 2003 respectively, that privatized the work, resulting in 10,000 health-care workers being laid off and rehired for less pay.
“By promoting a stable and effective workforce, [the] government will be better positioned to offer attractive job options to people interested in joining the workforce,” VCH’s statement said.
– with files from Cindy E. Harnett/Times Colonist, and the Canadian Press
