These technicians receive 41 cents per kilometre for work travel in their personal vehicles.
For comparison, Canada Revenue Agency employees receive 72 cents per kilometre.
This means, for example, for a round trip between the Lactanet testing facility on Cheam Ave. in Chilliwack and Eagle Acres Dairy in Langley B.C., (121.4 km round trip) a Lactanet employee would receive $49.77 in mileage compensation.
For the same round trip, a CRA employee would earn $87.40 - $37.63 more than the Lactanet worker.
The union is urging Lactanet to return to the bargaining table with an offer that “respects the farmers and the industry it serves.”
The two sides have been negotiating since September 2023.
Lactanet needs to raise the compensation levels appropriately. The union says.
"These workers are demanding that Lactanet reconsider how it's using the fees it charges farmers for testing and cover the actual current-day costs of travelling to farms to gather samples," BCGEU Treasurer Maria Middlemiss said in a statement. "After 26 months without a contract, these workers can no longer afford to continue in this way."
For its part, BC Dairy is reassuring British Columbians the ongoing strike doesn’t affect the quality of milk in B.C.
“All milk produced on farms in BC is inspected and sampled before it leaves the farm to ensure quality and safety. The ongoing job action at Lactanet does not affect the mandatory testing requirements that all farms in BC must meet,” the organization said in a statement.