More than 150 housekeeping staff at Royal Columbian Hospital will start seeing improved wages and benefits today.
The Hospital Employees’ Union is celebrating the return of privatized workers who are being brought back in-house at three health care facilities in the Fraser Health Authority this month. Today, 160 health care workers at Royal Columbian Hospital are being transferred from their private contractor back to the Fraser Health Authority.
“When housekeepers and dietary workers were contracted to private corporations nearly 20 years ago, they were separated from the rest of the health-care team and pushed to the margins of our health-care system, earning low wages and substandard benefits,” HEU secretary-business manager Meena Brisard said in a news release. “Today’s repatriation of health-care workers to public sector employment is the result of nearly 20 years of campaigning by our members. It will provide stability and security for these workers, and better care.”
According to the HEU, the contracting-out policy disproportionately impacted racialized health-care workers, as well as women, who represent more than four out of five workers in this sector.
In addition to the 160 workers at Royal Columbian Hospital, 160 workers at Burnaby Hospital and Eagle Ridge Hospital in Fraser Health returned to employment with Fraser Health in early April, as part of the government’s commitment to reverse health-care privatization policies of the previous government.
Housekeepers and dietary workers coming back under the health authorities will now be covered by the provincewide facilities collective agreement, and will see improvements to their wages and benefits, states the HEU.
"I'm so excited. My colleagues and I are happy because we will receive a living wage, a pension plan, new uniforms and additional support for our health as Fraser Health employees,” said Ma Luz Williams, who has worked as a housekeeping aid at RCH since 2006. “We have looked forward to this change."
Gwenda Alexander, a housekeeper at Burnaby Hospital and a local union chair whose job recently transferred in-house, said many workers in this sector will benefit from better wages.
“They may be able to reduce hours or even let go of a second or third job they’ve taken to make ends meet,” she said in a news release.
A press release from the provincial government states that health authorities served notice under the terms of 21 commercial service contracts and started a phased approach to repatriate housekeeping and food service contracts.
"Health care is a vital part of our community, and many people who work at Royal Columbian Hospital also live in New Westminster,” said New Westminster MLA Jennifer Whiteside. “Bringing contracted services back under the direct control of Fraser Health restores good-quality jobs and dignity to health-care workers, builds a stronger health-care team and results in better care and services for everyone in our community."
According to the Ministry of Health, health authorities will continue to repatriate workers under Bill 47 over the next two years, bringing an estimated 4,000 workers back in-house. Other health authorities repatriating food and housekeeping staff include Island Health, Providence Health Care, Provincial Health Services Authority and Vancouver Coastal Health.
This move started in July 2019 when the B.C. government brought in Bill 47 (Health Sector Statutes Repeal Act), which repealed two existing pieces of legislation, the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act (Bill 29) and the Health Sector Partnerships Agreement Act (Bill 94), which had facilitated contracting out in the health sector.
"Dedicated staff and medical staff are the backbone of our health system. I am proud to welcome housekeeping workers back to the Fraser Health family where they will continue to play a critical role in supporting our patients, clients, and residents,” said Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO of Fraser Health. “I want to take this opportunity to also acknowledge their significant contributions throughout our response to the COVID-19 pandemic."
