Ontario LifeLabs workers reach tentative agreement, averting strike

LifeLabs workers in the Greater Toronto Area and Kitchener-Waterloo have reached tentative agreements ahead of their Saturday strike deadline, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said Friday evening. 

Couriers and mail clerks working for Lifelabs in Ontario, who handle samples and blood specimens, could have walked off the job on Saturday as part of a labour dispute. 

"These workers protect the integrity of diagnostic specimens and deserve good jobs, not gig work," the union said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. 

In a news release issued this week, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said 150 mailroom clerks and couriers across the GTA and in Kitchener were poised to strike on the weekend, with picket lines slated to go up Monday if no deal was reached.

"LifeLabs is a billion-dollar, for-profit company that gets millions of our public health care dollars," OPSEU President JP Hornick said in a statement. 

"It can absolutely afford to treat workers fairly — yet even full-time workers are struggling to pay rent as some of the lowest paid employees in the company. How are you supposed to keep up with the cost of living when your rent hike is higher than your wage increase?"

In its own statement sent to CBC News, Lifelabs said the company and the union was negotiating a renewal of their collective bargaining agreement and said management was committed to finding a deal that works.

"In the event of a strike, LifeLabs will take all possible actions to minimize disruption to customers and healthcare providers," the statement read. 

"We will implement a business continuity plan to ensure that we can continue to provide Ontarians with access to important health care services. Patient Services Centres will remain open, and laboratories will continue to function as usual."

WATCH | Inside Canada's labour movement: 

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There have been several high-profile labour disputes across Canada over the past year, from LCBO workers to rail employees to Air Canada pilots. CBC’s Shannon Martin explains what’s driving it — and what the future of the labour movement could look like.

The union says mail clerks who were on the verge of striking handle all incoming and outgoing deliveries for the company, while couriers transport blood samples and other tests from hospitals, doctors' offices and pharmacies to labs for testing.

Toronto courier Mahmood Alawneh, who is also president of OPSEU Local 5119, said before the deal was struck that the company was eroding working conditions.

"The public relies on us every day as part of their care," Alawneh said. "We hope that we can rely on the public in turn as we fight for the careers we deserve — good jobs, not gig work."