Manitoba could de-privatize all lab tests after striking Dynacare workers were deemed essential by the provincial labour board and ordered back to work, the premier said.
Premier Wab Kinew’s comments come a day after 350 Dynacare workers picketed Tuesday. The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals (MAHCP) ordered the company’s technologists and technicians to strike over a wage dispute with Dynacare, who the association claims is underpaying its workers. The day-long strike ended Tuesday evening, after the Manitoba Labour Board ruled that the workers must return to work Wednesday.
“Dynacare sucks. They’ve made an absolute mess of this situation,” Manitoba’s premier told reporters, adding that he would like to see the parties resume negotiations.
“Dynacare, get back to the table. Give these workers a fair deal,” he added.
Kinew said he supports the union’s workers, despite his government successfully arguing to the Manitoba Labour Board that Dynacare is vital to the health system.
Manitoba’s government had to “do the right thing here and make sure the health care system runs smoothly,” the premier said, adding that people would have been forced to wait for potentially life-changing test results if the strike had continued.
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“Nobody should be using the results of a cancer test as leverage in a negotiation,” Kinew said.
The premier also laid blame on the former Progressive Conservative government for contracting non-hospital medical testing to Dynacare.
That decision would be difficult and “costly” for the province to undo, Kinew cautioned, saying that “once you scramble the eggs, you can’t unscramble them again.”
“The impact on services is felt by the patients, and the inability to renationalize a universal public health care service being delivered in the province becomes extraordinarily more expensive once it’s been handed to private hands.”
In an email statement for Global News, Dynacare acknowledged that the situation has been “difficult” for patients and the province. A spokesperson for the company said that it shares Kinew’s desire to resolve the contract dispute.
“The fact is that Dynacare shares his commitment to ensuring Manitobans have reliable access to community-based laboratory services, and that is exactly what we are working to protect. We are looking for a sustainable collective agreement that will ensure those services,” the statement reads.
“We have served Manitobans for decades as a trusted partner in the province’s healthcare system, and we believe that kind of partnership will be stronger with a sustainable agreement.”
Dynacare said its offer of interest arbitration remains on the table for MAHCP members.
The union has stated that the root of this strike was a 20 to 50 per cent wage gap between Dynacare workers and those who work in the public sector.
well Dynalife screwed the pooch in Alberta, thanks UCP. At least it went back to Alberta Lab Sevices.