December 24, 2013 - 5:00 AM
VANCOUVER - The association representing more than 16,000 health care workers in British Columbia has ratified a deal that gives members a 5.5 per cent wage increase over five years and additional increases if the economy performs well.
The Health Sciences Association of B.C. says 76 per cent of members have accepted the deal that was announced late last month by Finance Minister Mike de Jong.
The agreement include what's known as an economic stability dividend, which ties additional wage hikes to growth of the province's gross domestic product.
Members will also continue to receive their current benefits until April 1, 2016, when a new, jointly-run trust will take over management of the file.
The current contract expires next March, and the new deal runs for five years.
Members of the association include laboratory, imaging and radiation technologists, as well as physiotherapists, social workers and records administrators.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013