‘If we’re broken, we can’t take care of our patients,’ LifeLabs Kamloops workers hold rally

Wendy Cummer, who has worked for LifeLabs in Kamloops for 33 years, is one of the bargaining committee members working on a new collective agreement. The rally outside 321 Nicola St. was the first she one organized to drum up support and boost her peers’ spirits.

“We’re so short-staffed in Kamloops… trying to get an appointment is difficult, trying to stand in line when you get there is difficult,” Cummer says. “If you’re taking time off work and you’ve got an appointment, it’s pretty uncomfortable phoning your boss and saying ‘hey, I’m going to be a couple of hours longer than I thought.’ At this point, we’re asking people to use [Royal Inland Hospital] if they can, but we can’t overwhelm them either.”

Wendy Cummer (r) speaking to her peers prior to a march around the block (Image credit: CFJC Today/Aaron Schulze).

Image credit: CFJC Today/Aaron Schulze

While the analytical section Cummer works in is staffed, she notes the patient service centres where residents in Kamloops and area go in to get blood work or an electrocardiogram are short-staffed.

“If someone calls in sick or someone is on vacation, there isn’t coverage,” Cummer told CFJC Today. “They’re not large facilities, so one person out makes a big difference. I think we have 16 staff right now working in our patient service centres. In the last year, we’ve had 12 quit.”

According to Cummer, LifeLabs workers in Kamloops are paid four to 16 per cent less than their counterparts at Royal Inland Hospital, depending on classification. She says there have been LifeLabs workers who eventually moved to the hospital for a pay raise, leaving their peers with more overtime, leading to burnout.

The Kamloops LifeLabs workers are limited in how they can intensify their strike action. While they’re an outpatient service the LifeLabs workers have an essential service order, meaning they can’t close every location during the week. The workers can only close one location at a time and there is one location that can never close.

Cummer says if the BCGEU went to the B.C. Labour Relations Board to renegotiation the essential service order, it wouldn’t be guaranteed the board would feel it’s best for residents in B.C.

Meantime, workers and the BCGEU will continue hosting rallies, with Cummer saying there are plans for demonstrations in Nanaimo, Prince George and Vancouver over the next week. It’s unknown if another rally will be held in Kamloops in the near future.

“We just keep thanking our amazing workers,” she says. “The ones who are out on the picket lines and the energy and positivity they’re showing. The ones who don’t get to go out on the picket lines that have to stay and work, and are working short-staffed… It’s hard. None of us want to be doing this. We all want to be back taking care of our patients. But we know if we’re broken, we can’t take care of our patients.”

Cummer says both sides are away from the table and remain far apart in negotiations.

by Aaron Schulze

‘If we’re broken, we can’t take care of our patients,’ LifeLabs Kamloops workers hold rally

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