By Healthcare Facilities Today

The Hospital Employees' Union in British Columbia is taking a strike mandate to the negotiation table, as housekeeping services voted 97 per cent in favor of strike action earlier this week, according to a story on BurnabyNow.com.

Between Sept. 16 and 26, strike votes were taken at 33 sites covering nearly 1,300 health care workers employed by Aramark, a U.S.-based housekeeping service. The workers are calling for a living wage and more staff, the article said.

If it goes through, a strike would affect 100 Burnaby and 150 New Westminster hospital support workers, according to Neil Monckton, the union's communications officer.

"Negotiations got underway this morning. We don't expect to hear anything until later in the day," Monckton told Burnaby NOW. "Obviously, the pressure we're putting on the employer is paying off to get them back to the table."

The province privatized hospital cleaning and food services 10 years ago and four multinational corporations - Acciona, Aramark, Compass-Marquise and Sodexo - employ nearly 4,400 workers in B.C.

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