More than five-thousand unionized long-term care and assisted-living workers in B.C. will move under a single province-wide collective agreement over the next two years.

The province announced the transition Monday as part of a new agreement between the B.C. government, the Facilities Bargaining Association and health employers.

Officials say the move is aimed at creating fairness for workers and stability in provincially funded care homes.

The plan restores unified labour standards similar to those in place before 2002, when privatization policies led to varied wages, benefits and working conditions across the sector.

Under the new memorandum of agreement, eligible care home operators who receive a set level of provincial funding and directly employ staff will become members of the Health Employers Association of BC, bringing employees under the same terms as other publicly funded healthcare workers.

The province says standardizing wages and workplace conditions will help reduce turnover and improve recruitment and retention, ultimately benefiting seniors who rely on long-term care and assisted-living services.

The agreement still requires ratification, which is expected to be completed later this month.

The Hospital Employees’ Union represents more than sixty-thousand health workers in British Columbia, including roughly twenty-eight thousand working directly with seniors.