Hospital workers in Whitehorse, Watson Lake and Dawson City have voted in favour of strike action.

In a statement issued early this morning, the Yukon Employees’ Union confirmed the vote held last week “showed an overwhelming majority of (about 250) workers are prepared to strike if necessary.

“That clear direction is sure to guide and strengthen the team as they face their employer again this week.”

The union would not provide detailed results of the vote.

President of the Yukon Employees’ Union, Steve Geick, however, told the Star a majority of members came out to the vote meetings with the strong direction to take strike action.

As the union explained, the membership meetings last Thursday allowed the elected bargaining team to explain what’s come of the talks with the Yukon Hospital Corp. so far and outline the corporation’s most recent offer (no details are provided on any offers).

Workload and the contracting out of hospital services have been highlighted as the major issues this time around.

“Chronic understaffing has been worsened by expanded hospital services, and employee burn-out is endemic across hospital departments,” the union pointed out in its statement.

Conciliation talks with a federal mediator are scheduled today and Friday.

As for what direction members take from there, Geick said: “It’s going to depend on what happens (in conciliation).”

Both the hospital corporation and the union are in a position to take action through a lock-out by the corporation or a strike by the union with 72-hour notice.

Geick noted there “is a lot going on during a strike.”

The union would provide strike training to its members which would deal with protocol, the essential services agreement which has already been established and other matters before taking action.

This morning, Matt Davidson, a corporation spokesman, said, as he did in a previous interview, that officials are working to keep the lines of communication open. He also highlighted the corporation’s priority of providing continued, safe and quality care for its patients.

The most recent collective agreement ended on Aug. 31, 2017.

That deal saw staff receive a 4.75 per cent over three years along with a commitment for improved communication on pension matters and an agreement to protect the pension plan as a defined benefit plan.

A joint working group was established as part of that contract to look at staffing ratios and make recommendations to management.

The issue of workload, however, has remained a major issue for members.