Thousands of striking British Columbia medical employees defied an order to return to work by the province's labour relations board Friday and were joined by other union workers in a solidarity strike — escalating an emotionally charged dispute between heath workers' unions and the government.
For a sixth day, 43,000 health support workers were told by their respective unions to stay off the job. Back-to-work legislation introduced Thursday imposes a 15-per-cent wage cut in a two-year contract.
They were joined by another 25,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in British Columbia. CUPE B.C. President Barry O'Neill called Friday a "day of protest against what this government is doing," but he said he expects the situation to continue to escalate into next week
"We suspect by early next week we'll have about 70,000 members out, and whatever happens in the rest of the province, we'll see. It's certainly starting to build as we speak," he told globeandmail.com.
Some are even predicting a general strike.
"I know that there's a whole lot of workers that are fed up with what's going on and I don't think it's limited to unions. It's got to do with what's going on across B.C." Mr. O'Neill said.
He added that he feels that his union has the people and the resources to "bring the focus to where it needs to be."
Chris Allnut, the Hospital Employees Union's secretary-business manager, said in a statement that "support from CUPE and other unions, the community, and workers in both the public and private sector is truly inspiring." The Hospital Employees Union is the largest union of health care workers in B.C., representing support staff including cleaners, food service employees and some nursing staff.
Late in the day, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell appealed for calm.Health-care workers' pay doesn't have to be cut at all if they agree to concessions in some of their benefits, Mr. Campbell said Friday in a television interview aimed at quelling a growing tide toward a general public sector strike.
He urged the Hospital Employees Union to exercise its right in the legislation to sit down with the employers and an arbitrator and negotiate how the 15 per cent cut in the union's wages and benefits will work out.
"I understand this is difficult for workers," he said.
"If a worker in the HEU would give up one of their nine weeks vacation and decided to go to a 40-hour week, there would be no hit on their paycheque."
The province introduced back-to-work legislation Thursday, ordering the members of the B.C. HEU to end the walkout and return to their jobs for a 15 per cent pay cut in a two-year contract. The legislation even required some to pay back money they'd already earned.
The Health Employers of British Columbia went to the Labour Relations Board late Thursday afternoon in an effort to get the strike declared illegal.
"This morning, we received an order from the LRB, finding that the employees needed to refrain from striking and go back to work," a spokeswoman from the HEABC told globeandmail.com.
"Our employers take that order and serve it on the shop stewards who are compelled to advise their union members they must return to work. That process of serving the employees has begun ," the spokeswoman said.
She added that the labour relations order has also been filed at the Supreme Court and "we're now trying to determine the next steps if employees do not comply with that order."
But the board did not rule on the legality of the union's "protest" picket lines. The order also doesn't contain enforcement powers, which have to be obtained through a court application.
The Hospital Employees Union is examining the labour board's decision.
"We are urging government to rethink this latest legislative assault on health care workers and we are urging employers not to act on the LRB ruling."
Some workers said they're even ready to go to jail to fight the government-imposed contract.
Bal Lasher, who was on the "protest" picket line at Women's and Children's hospital in Vancouver, said: "You know I'm an HEU member going on 17 years. I'm in my third and fourth year of university. I've been working my butt off. I've got three children. I work full time. I haven't worked this hard to have people take away my rights."
Victor Elkins, the chair of HEU local at Children's and Women's hospital, said morale on the lines is high. "Most of us haven't had much sleep in the last four days, but you wouldn't know it. We're just buzzing right now."
He said the support from other unions and the community is pouring in.
Jim Sinclair of the B.C. Federation of Labour said Thursday his organization is not calling for a general strike. But he wouldn't rule out the possibility.
The labour federation, along with Mr. O'Neill, planned to meet Friday with Labour Minister Graham Bruce "to see if we can try to find a solution to this crisis that's brewing in the health-care system," said Mr. Sinclair.
The government said the back-to-work legislation was necessary because since the strike began Sunday, thousands of surgeries and tens of thousands of diagnostic procedures had to be cancelled.
The B.C. government has said the 43,000 health support workers — cleaners, orderlies, cooks, licensed practical nurses, accountants and others — are the highest paid in Canada and will continue to have the highest wages and benefits package after the cuts.
But that wasn't any comfort to striking workers who will actually owe the government because the imposed contract is retroactive to April 1, when the old one expired. Until the strike began April 24, the workers were being paid the old rates.
The back-to-work bill cuts salaries of health support workers and forces them into a longer work week for a total cut to wages and benefits amounting 15 per cent.
Mr. Bruce, the Labour Minister, said union members could lose up to 10 days pay under the retroactive clause in the legislation, though the amount could be reduced depending on the final details of the settlement.
Workers facing layoff within the next two months will not be hit with bills.
The Health Employers Association of B.C. wanted contract concessions, saying the workers were paid well above what similar workers are paid elsewhere in Canada.
For example, a laundry worker in B.C. was paid $18.68 an hour, compared with an average of $13.86 an hour for others across Canada.
That same laundry worker will now be paid $15.88 an hour under the legislated contract, according to Labour Ministry figures.
Health Minister Colin Hansen said the $200-million in savings generated from the legislated contract will help health-care service in British Columbia.
The government has not said what penalties could follow for union members or the leadership if they continue to defy the back-to-work order after the strike's been declared illegal.
With reports from Canadian Press
