Union trustees named to Joint Benefits Trust

The 2014-2019 HSPBA collective agreement includes provisions committing the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers' Association of BC (HEABC) to establish the Joint Health Science Benefits Trust (JHSBT) for provision of health and welfare benefits. The JHSBT will be governed by a Board of Trustees with an equal number of trustees appointed by HSPBA and HEABC, and members of the HSPBA Working Group have now been selected to act as interim trustees.

The Working Group members and interim trustees are:

• Jeanne Meyers, HSA
• Dennis Blatchford, HSA
• Alison Hietanen, HSA
• Troy Clifford, CUPE

A joint trust is a self-funded, not for profit organization that manages all assets for the maximum benefit of its members. Trusts are legal entities that are held to the highest fiduciary standards. All employees and employers covered by the collective agreement must participate in the JHSBT for the provision of health and welfare benefits.

HSPBA is the bargaining association that negotiates on behalf of health science professionals who deliver health care services in BC hospitals and communities. A majority of health science professionals are represented by the Health Sciences Association of BC. Other unions in the Association are the BC Government and Service Employees Union, Professional Employees Association, Canadian Union of Public Employees and Hospital Employees' Union.