Urgent call for patients to get tests as Dynacare strike looms

WINNIPEG — Shared Health issued an urgent call Friday to surgical patients who require bloodwork to get it done before Dynacare stops collecting blood at noon today — three days before lab workers are set to go on strike.

The company, which conducts blood tests at 22 outlets in Winnipeg, Brandon and surrounding communities, is locked in a contract battle with the union that represents its 350 workers.

Health officials warned that any disruption would significantly impair the health-care system.

Shared Health said Friday its officials, as well as regional health authorities, CancerCare Manitoba and the government have been working together to prepare for the walkout.

“Emergency and time-sensitive diagnostic testing will continue, with testing prioritized according to clinical urgency and patient need,” a news release issued by Shared Health said.

However, some elective or non-urgent testing may be delayed, if medically safe to do so.

Shared Health advised patients to follow the advice of care providers and seek reassessment if their condition changes while waiting for testing.

It said it will expand its lab collection services to help meet increased demand in phases, including the potential for temporary collection spaces.

Shared Health warned anyone who needs routine or non-urgent testing to go to appropriate locations, not to an emergency department or urgent care centre.

The union said Friday the Manitoba government gave Dynacare, a U.S.-based private firm, an $11.7-million boost after the last round of negotiations in 2022 — and little went to workers.

“It, on the outside, appears like (the province) uses this as a vehicle to save money and the company uses that vehicle to make profit and it’s all on the backs of those lab professionals who are the least powerful and are not paid properly,” said Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals.

Negotiations ended this week after Dynacare rejected the union’s counter-proposal and ended conciliation, the union said. The collective agreement expired on March 31.

The union released a copy of contracts between Dynacare and the provincial government, which went into effect in April 2023, that it obtained via a freedom-of-information request.

The funding boost, from 2018 to 2025, included a $5-million top-up and annual increases, amounting to about $11.7-million over that time period.

Linklater said that amount is more than five to six times what the workers received in wage increases over the same time period.

The union argues Dynacare’s final offer would mean its employees earn 20 to 30 per cent less than lab workers employed by Shared Health, who do the same work in public hospitals and clinics.

In 2017, Dynacare’s wages were at parity with Shared Health lab wages, the union said.

Linklater asked why Dynacare lab workers should bargain with their employer, given the provincial government funds lab workers at both Shared Health and Dynacare.

The union wants the province to release the five-year funding contract it signed with Dynacare last year.

In an unsigned statement issued Friday, a Dynacare official argued its offer to the union reflects the maximum the company can “sustainably provide” and that the company remains open to taking the matter to arbitration.

“We have been transparent about that reality throughout bargaining. We continue to believe interest arbitration is the fairest path to resolving this,” said the company’s statement.

“It is an independent process that would examine the facts and reach a binding decision, and that offer remains open.”

The Dynacare official said the company is focused on reaching a fair agreement.

“We are not going to negotiate through the media or respond to selective releases of historical contract information,” the official said.

Dynacare said it has made “significant and ongoing investments” to its services, including at its main lab on King Edward Street in Winnipeg, partnered with post-secondary institutions on training, and spent money on technology, testing capabilities and infrastructure at its locations.

The union has set a strike deadline of 6 a.m. Tuesday, just ahead of a labour board hearing prompted by Labour Minister Malaya Marcelino’s application for a review into whether an essential services agreement is needed. It would deem the workers essential and take away their right to strike.

Linklater has argued the application is a betrayal by the province and removed pressure on Dynacare to reach a contract.

The company and union had agreed in March, before the contract expired, that Dynacare services are not deemed essential under provincial law.

Neither the labour minister nor Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara were made available for an interview on Friday and the government did not substantively respond to the union’s latest claims.

A government spokesman did say the province continues to hope the two sides can reach a resolution through bargaining.

Tim Gillis, who went to the Dynacare outlet on McPhillips Street Friday, said labour talks should not result in any closure.

“The ongoing labour negotiations are one thing, but this is an essential service for health,” Gillis, 48, said. “I think you need to find a way around it, so they don’t go on strike, because it’s going to affect a lot of people in this community in a negative way.”

He said the province should step up to make sure the labs stay open because they’re critical for patients.

“Without it, I can’t continue my treatment,” he said.

» Winnipeg Free Press, with files from Morgan Modjeski