VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has moved to roll back two health sector laws that resulted in the lay offs of thousands of health-care workers under a former provincial Liberal government.
NDP Health Minister Adrian Dix says the government intends to work with employers, unions and health facility operators to implement a new law that will improve job security and rights for health-sector workers.
Dix says the former Liberal government introduced two laws in 2002 and 2003 that led to the layoffs of more than 8,000 workers and allowed care-home operators to cut or avoid unionized labour costs.
He says B.C. needs to introduce laws that protect and attract health workers to ensure an aging population receives consistent, quality care.
The Hospital Employees' Union says in a statement that repealing the laws is a huge move towards restoring justice and fairness for health-care workers and repairing the damage to health care delivery.
The union says the workers fired were mostly women and their jobs, which included hospital cleaning, food services, laundry and other support services, were contracted out.
