Seniors-Care Workers Get a Two-Year Transition — and HEU Says Gaps Remain
The union calls the seniors-care memorandum an important win. The accountability question is why a basic workforce fix still runs to 2028 and still leaves workers outside the door.
B.C.’s seniors-care workforce has been through years of instability, wage gaps and uneven standards. On September 10, the Hospital Employees’ Union said the provincial government is continuing work to bring eligible long-term-care and assisted-living operators back under the Health Employers Association of BC. HEU calls the memorandum of agreement a historic win for members and seniors-care workers.
That matters. Workers who keep care homes running deserve fair wages, benefits, pensions and stable conditions. Families deserve a system where staffing standards do not depend on which operator holds the contract. But the details also expose how slowly the NDP is repairing a problem it now acknowledges is central to care quality.
HEU says the agreement is expected to bring nearly 5,000 seniors-care workers into the public sector. The government’s own transition Q&A says eligible unionized long-term-care and assisted-living operators will move into HEABC over a two-year period. Phase One runs from October 1, 2026, to September 30, 2027, covering about half of eligible operators. Phase Two runs from October 1, 2027, to September 30, 2028, for the rest.
In plain English: some workers and families may be waiting until late 2028 for the change to fully land. That is not a quick correction. It is a runway stretching across two more budget years, two more influenza seasons, and countless shifts in care homes that already face recruitment and retention pressure.
The gaps are just as important as the timeline. HEU’s transition page says not all seniors-care workers will be included. Subcontracted employers providing care or support services at long-term-care and assisted-living facilities are not eligible under this change. The government Q&A says subcontracted service providers that are not the facility operator are not eligible for HEABC membership, and existing subcontracting arrangements are not affected.
HEU secretary-business manager Lynn Bueckert also says the policy still falls short of establishing common seniors-care standards across B.C. That is a careful, credible warning from a union celebrating the agreement. It should not be brushed aside as opposition rhetoric.
David Eby’s government will want the headline: thousands of workers moving back toward public-sector agreements. Fine. Give workers credit for winning that ground. But British Columbians also deserve the ledger: which operators are in Phase One, which are delayed to Phase Two, which worksites are excluded, how many subcontracted workers remain outside the fix, and what enforceable provincewide care standards will apply while the transition crawls forward.
A partial repair is better than denial. It is still partial. Seniors-care families do not need another victory lap from Victoria. They need dates, site lists, staffing standards and a guarantee that workers left outside this agreement are not forgotten until 2028.