Workers poised for strike

By Dan Hilborn
Published Sept. 28, 2005


Burnaby Hospital, the Fellburn care centre and five other hospitals in the Fraser Health Authority could be behind picket lines by the end of the week, after newly organized housekeeping staff voted 97.8 per cent in favour of strike action last week.

The strike vote by 350 employees of Sodexho, a French-based corporation that took over housecleaning duties in many B.C. hospitals over the past two years, was announced Friday.

Taking part in the vote were an estimated 60 housekeeping workers at Burnaby Hospital and another 10 workers at Fellburn, plus cleaners at Royal Columbian and Queen's Park hospitals in New Westminster, Surrey Memorial, Chilliwack General and the Heritage Home facility in Chilliwack.

Those workers will join an estimated 1,100 Sodexho employees at 29 other sites across Southern B.C. who previously began limited job action against their employer on Sept. 15. While some of the workers were Hospital Employee's Union members employed by the health authority until their jobs were contracted out two years ago, the majority are new employees who are seeking a first contract, said Mike Old, communications officer with the union.

"The process of certifying and bargaining has been a real slog for these workers, but I think their spirits are good," said Old.

While essential service levels for the seven newly affected facilities were still being set as of press time, Old confirmed that any job action will probably have only a minimal impact on the public.

"There's been an order from the (Labour Relations Board) that establishes very high levels of essential services (at the previously strikebound facilities), so there is virtually no impact on patient care," Old said. "What that means is that Sodexho managers have to come in and provide some of the work on food tray lines. "We feel that Sodexho managers are feeling some pressure to meet their obligations, and we hope this will result in fresh talks and realistic wage proposals."

According to a press release issued by the union Friday, the main issue is 'poverty-level wages' paid by a company that had $17 billion in worldwide revenue last year and contracts with B.C. health authorities with a value of more than $400 million.

The union's secretary-business manager, Judy Darcy, said low wages - nine out of 10 workers at the seven newly affected sites earn less than $10.50 an hour to clean operating rooms, special care nurseries and long-term care facilities - are resulting in a staff turnover rate that approaches 50 per cent annually.

"The solution is for this profitable corporation - which paid its CEO $1.4 million last year - to provide its workers with decent, family-supporting wages," Darcy said in a press release.

The union also pointed to Fraser Health auditing results released this summer that indicate Sodexho failed to meet the benchmark cleaning standards in more than half of the hospitals where it has contracts to do the cleaning.

The union is seeking wages of about $13 an hour to start, with a rate of $15 an hour after four years. Sodexho's offer would see wages rise to a little over $11 an hour, said the union press release.