Dynacare must treat workers fairly: health minister

Manitoba’s health minister defended the government’s contract with Dynacare, saying the for-profit company is expected to treat its workers fairly — but wouldn’t say if that expectation was spelled out in the deal.

The 350 private lab workers, who are represented by the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, have been without a contract since March 31 and went on strike on Sept. 8.

The Manitoba Labour Board ordered them back to work and they returned to the job one day later.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara was asked Wednesday about the lack of an essential services agreement and why the government didn’t intervene in March, knowing that a labour dispute could interrupt community lab services.

“Workers have rights,” Asagwara said. “We respect and revere those rights. We also know that it is fundamentally important to make sure that Manitobans have access to the health services that they need, essential services that they need. An employer has all the obligations to deliver those services, and an employer has obligations to make sure that their employees are fairly compensated. Those are the expectations we have of Dynacare.”

A week before the work stoppage, Labour Minister Malaya Marcelino asked the labour board to suspend the strike over concerns it could have “catastrophic” impacts on the health of Manitobans. The board was asked to determine whether an essential services agreement was needed. That hearing is underway.

The minister skirted a question about whether a pay increase for workers was spelled out in the contract the government signed with Dynacare. Asagwara said the government expected Dynacare to pay workers fair wages and treat them fairly.

When asked why they would expect that from a for-profit company, Asagwara said “that’s a common-sense value.”

“Any good business owner knows that you have a great business model based on happy employees. Your employees are happy. Your employees love their jobs. They’re happy and proud to go to work and feel like they’re being treated fairly.”

The union for Dynacare employees said the provincial government decided not to include a requirement for fair wages when it signed a five-year deal with the U.S.-based company in 2025. It seeks wage parity, arguing its members’ counterparts in the public system are paid 20 to 50 per cent more.

“That contract should have contained the funding to get these people parity with the public service… and they didn’t do that,” Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, said Wednesday.

“Both of those parties got together and decided to dump the entire cost saving of the system onto these lab employees,” Linklater said.

Premier Wab Kinew suggested last week the province could take over lab services from Dynacare in the future. Asagwara said that would be like “putting toothpaste back in the tube.”

It would be “very, very costly” and “incredibly complex.”

“That’s not saying we’re not going to do it or we’re not open to doing it.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca