Health care workers hurt by Bill 29 to receive compensation by Christmas
Last Updated: Monday, November 10, 2008 | 4:46 PM PT
CBC News
More than 7,000 health-care workers will receive an average $9,500 each before Christmas as compensation for being laid off after the B.C. government contracted out their jobs.
The payments are part of a $75-million settlement negotiated among the government and health unions after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down key sections of Bill 29 in June 2007, saying they violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The bill, known as the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act, allowed the government to arbitrarily break union agreements and contract out union jobs without consulting union representatives. More than 9,000 health care workers were laid off as a result of the legislation.
Depending on their length of service, employment status and other factors, the health care workers affected by the bill will be paid between $788 and $17,730, the Hospital Employees' Union said Monday.
Judy Darcy, the union's secretary and business manager, said the compensation will not make up for the damage caused by the legislation, which was passed in January 2002, but will provide financial help for the workers.
"Bill 29 was devastating to so many families and continues to undermine the wages and working conditions of the thousands of workers employed by private contractors in our public health care facilities," Darcy said in a news release.
B.C.'s health unions challenged the constitutionality of Bill 29 in a five-year court battle. The Supreme Court gave the government one year to bring the controversial legislation into compliance with the Charter.
The government in April introduced amendments to the law, removing restrictions on health care workers' ability to negotiate with the government on issues of outsourcing, and initiated settlement talks with the help of labour arbitrator Vince Ready.
The settlement package includes $68 million in financial compensation and $7 million for the retraining of workers whose jobs were or will be contracted out.
