Laboratory workers at DynaLIFEdx in northern Alberta have voted in favour of going on strike, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta announced Friday.

Nearly 75 per cent of the people who cast a ballot voted in favour of going on strike, the union said, adding that 700 of the 912 eligible workers took part in the strike vote.

The lab technicians and assistants want pay levels in line with workers in southern Alberta.

DynaLIFEdx operates 36 labs in northern Alberta with the majority in Edmonton. Family physicians refer their patients to these labs for blood and urine tests.

The company also operates the labs in Fort McMurray, Fort Vermillion and High Level hospitals.

In a news release last month, DynaLIFEdx said it believes its offer of an average 20 per cent pay raise over two years is reasonable. The union believes the offer still makes compensation lower than the Alberta industry standard.

"The hourly rates are reasonably comparable but lower generally than in the rest of the province for lab workers," said union president Elisabeth Ballermann.

"But there are additional things such as benefit payments and other allowances that are significantly lacking, bringing the total compensation — quite significantly, 15 to 17 per cent — lower than other lab workers."

The union must give DynaLIFEdx 72 hours notice within the next 120 days before going on strike.

Hospital labs in Edmonton would not be affected by a strike, as those workers are employed by Alberta Health Services or Covenant Health, Ballermann said.