Dynacare strike set to begin before hearing into essential services agreement

Hundreds of Dynacare lab employees are expected to hit the picket line Tuesday, hours before a labour board hearing to determine whether they are essential workers.

Labour Minister Malaya Marcelino said she asked the board to get involved over concerns that a strike by 350 employees at the private company, which provides nearly all outpatient lab tests in the province, could put the health of Manitobans at risk.

Labour board registrar Raymond MacIsaac said Wednesday a hearing into the minister’s request for “interim relief” is set for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 8.

Her application says that the public health-care system doesn’t have the capacity to fill the testing void that would be created by a Dynacare strike.

In a statement, Dynacare said it supports the minister’s application to the labour board.

“We welcome this step, as it reflects the same commitment to our employees and the patients we serve that has guided Dynacare throughout this dispute. Our employees are the reason 1.2 million Manitobans can access community laboratory services, and we will participate in the Labour Board process to support our shared interest ensuring patients have continuous access to laboratory services.”

There is no essential services agreement between the private company and its workers, who are represented by the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals. The union has set a strike deadline of 6 a.m. on Sept 8 over its demand for wage parity with their public-sector counterparts who work at Shared Health labs.

Bozena Turczynowicz, who retired last month after working 26 years for Dynacare at several collection sites, took part in a lunchtime information picket outside the company’s laboratory on King Edward Street on Wednesday.

“The main reason is wages and the huge gap between Dynacare workers and Shared Health workers.”

“I’m here to support all my colleagues because they’re fighting for a just cause,” she said. “The main reason is wages and the huge gap between Dynacare workers and Shared Health workers.”

The union said Dynacare’s final offer, which was submitted Friday, fails to close the 20 to 50 per cent wage gap with public-sector workers. Conciliation ended once Dynacare rejected the union’s counterproposal.

Turczynowicz said a Dynacare collection site can take blood or collect urine from as many as 600 patients a day, and there aren’t enough staff.

“It’s non-stop. Everybody’s just burned out. You are on your feet all day long and you have to be really fast,” she said.

The minister asked the labour board this week to deem Dynacare lab services as essential and issue an interim order that all services provided by Dynacare in Manitoba continue until the board makes its final ruling.

In March, the company and the union had agreed that non-emergent lab tests are not essential, so no essential services agreement would be required in the event of a labour disruption.

“It’s non-stop. Everybody’s just burned out.”

The minister’s application to the labour board Tuesday said the service provided by the company “is a critical component of Manitoba’s health-care system.” Dynacare performs more than 24 million laboratory tests and 1.3 million blood collections annually at its 22 sites in Winnipeg, Brandon, Winkler, and surrounding communities, the application said.

It included affidavits from the chief provincial public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin; the chief operating officer of Shared Health diagnostics, Dr. Abdulrazaq Sokoro; and Dynacare chief medical and scientific officer, Dr. Jenisa Naidoo.

They cited the huge volume of tests conducted by the private company daily that are crucial to the delivery of health care.

Naidoo said the tests support the detection and management of a variety of medical conditions, including kidney disease, diabetes, infection, sepsis, leukemia, anemia, bleeding disorders, thyroid and liver disease, cardiovascular risk, and cancer.

At the union’s information picket Wednesday, president Jason Linklater said giving the workers wage parity would provide stability in the health-care system.

“This conversation needs to return back to these people who are being exploited by a private company.”

“The part that bothers me most about this entire thing is it has completely removed the focus away from the people doing this very important work and the discrepancy and wages between the public sector and them,” Linklater said.

“This conversation needs to return back to these people who are being exploited by a private company, an American corporation that is 100 per cent funded by the government, that is not paying wages that are fair or commensurate.”

Linklater said the company has no incentive to return to the bargaining table following the minister’s appeal to the labour board.

A government official speaking on background said the province passed legislation in 2024 that bans the use of replacement workers during a lockout or strike with the understanding that services that are essential to the health and welfare of Manitobans, and the administration of justice, continue to be provided.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca