Since late March, HEU has continued its work of bringing thousands of long-term care and assisted-living workers into the public sector, following the historic agreement with Health Employers’ Association of B.C. (HEABC) reached late last year.
Background
During the 2025 Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA) negotiations, the bargaining committee secured a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with government to bring more than 5,000 unionized long-term care and assisted-living workers into the public sector by 2028. Under the agreement, seniors’ care operators that meet the criteria will be designated as HEABC employers.
As a result, by 2028, thousands of seniors’ care workers across B.C. who are employed by those eligible operators will join the public sector and see significant improvements to their wages, benefits and have access to the Municipal Pension Plan (MPP).
This historic win for seniors’ care workers is one of many important changes that our union has been fighting for with our Care Can’t Wait campaign (https://carecantwait.ca/) which has been active for the past 10 years.
Steps HEU has taken
Since ratifying the FBA collective agreement, HEU has worked with government on the next steps to implement this important agreement. The parties originally agreed that by February 1, 2026, government would confirm a list of eligible seniors’ care operators. With a list of operators confirmed, HEU would then work with HEABC to implement the MOA in a timely way so that members employed by those operators can return to the public sector as soon as possible.
However, by early May, when HEU still had not received the list, the union wrote to government, reminding it of the commitment under the MOA to produce the names of eligible operators immediately. In addition, HEU filed a policy grievance outlining how any delay in providing the list may constitute a breach of the collective agreement.
While we understand that government was working hard to assess eligible operators, slowing the MOA’s implementation may adversely impact members making the transition to the public sector by delaying access to improved wages, benefits and pension.
Next steps
Since its actions in May to enforce the MOA, HEU received a preliminary list of eligible sites.
HEU is now in discussions with government about additional operators that the union believes should be included under the agreement.
This week, HEU also had its first meeting with HEABC around the policy grievance.
HEU is committed to ensuring the government and the HEABC stick to the agreed phased timelines in the agreement for transitioning seniors’ care workers into the public sector, to avoid further delays.
Our seniors’ care advocacy continues…
While the FBA’s long-term care agreement is a historic win for thousands of seniors’ care workers, it still falls short of restoring common seniors’ care standards across B.C. That’s why HEU continues to advocate for common working standards – including wage levelling – for all seniors’ care workers through our Care Can’t Wait campaign (carecantwait.ca/).
HEU encourages any members or community members to join the campaign for better working and caring conditions, so that the provincial government understands that strengthening seniors’ care across the province remains a priority for British Columbians.