News & Updates

The Report: June 2010 vol.31 num.3 WITH A TOUGH ROUND OF BARGAINING ONLY JUST BEGUN, and in the face of short-sighted provincial cuts, delegates gathered at the Hotel Vancouver to grapple with the issues underlying this years theme: a strong union, its members an essential part of the changing and modern health care system, standing up for the patients they...

The Report: June 2010 vol.31 num.3 BY DAVID FAIREY, KATHY McLENNAN AND JEANNE MEYERS HSPBAS CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM WAS FIRST DESIGNED SOME 40 YEARS AGO. TODAY, MANY EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH A SYSTEM DESIGNED FOR A SMALLER AND LESS COMPLEX BARGAINING UNIT. DELEGATES TO THE NOVEMBER BARGAINING PROPOSAL CONFERENCE DIRECTED HSA TO MODERNIZE THE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IN CURRENT CONTRACT...

The Report: June 2010 vol.31 num.3 PATIENTS MUST ALWAYS BE TOP PRIORITY FOR INNOVATIONS IN HEALTH CARE HEALTH MINISTER KEVIN FALCON has announced pilot programs for shifting hospitals to funding based on the number of patients they treat. HSA President Reid Johnson says he welcomes innovative changes in the delivery of health care, but will be watching as the patient-focused...

The Report: June 2010 vol.31 num.3 AS ANYONE WHO HAS OBSERVED a group child care situation knows, there are always children who dont fit in. Kids who sit alone in a corner, kids who disrupt the group, kids the others avoid or pick on, kids the supervisor doesnt know how to handle, and kids who end up getting pulled from...

The Report: June 2010 vol.31 num.3 FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, we have been working as a union to raise the profile of health science professionals. We've used many tools: advertising campaigns, sponsorship of community events like Run for the Cure, our constituency liaison program, our excellent relationships with professional associations. We're about to launch another ad campaign; a bold...

This June marks the 75th anniversary of the On to Ottawa Trek, when 1,000 young unemployed men climbed atop railway boxcars to take their plea for work and wages to the federal government. In 1935, unemployed workers were being forced into relief camps, and made to perform labour under military-style discipline -- for 20 cents a day. When workers finally...

Hotel Workers Rising is a movement of hotel workers across North America rising up to improve their jobs and secure better lives for themselves and their families. This year, 2000 hotel workers in the Vancouver Metro area are negotiating new union contracts in tandem with 60,000 hotel workers across the continent. Rally at the Hyatt RegencyWednesday, June 95 p.m.655 Burrard...

The Vancouver and District Labour Council women's committee presents a panel discussion on economic justice for women Wednesday June 2. The panel will feature Adrienne Montani from First Call and the Living Wage Campaign, Jocelyn Vergabera from the Phillipine Women's Centre, and a representative from UNITE HERE Local 40. The panel will be held as follows: Wednesday, June 27 -...

The Province Surely an emergency? My three-year-old granddaughter has a severe involuntary tic, and we were told by a neurologist she may have a brain tumour. She's been on a MRI waiting list for over six months. Completely unacceptable! We 've been told that the list is long and we have to go to a larger centre to have this...

Abbotsford News By Jeff Nagel Wait times for non-urgent MRI scans have ballooned to 20 months in Abbotsford, according to figures released by the Ministry of Health. In addition, the wait is as much as 18 months at several Lower Mainland hospitals, according to a survey released by the NDP. NDP health critic Adrian Dix said the estimates were gathered...