Health Sciences Association of BC welcomes the BC government's decision to support the operations of Starbright Children's Development Centre with a new service agreement. Starbright was facing imminent closure after a pilot project on establishing centralized services for children and youth with special needs was awarded to another agency in January.
Kane Tse, President of the Health Sciences Association, has released the following statement about Starbright Children’s Development Centre in Kelowna:
“Earlier this week, families with children needing specialized support services in Kelowna received terrible news.
Members can expect to begin receiving pay raises towards the end of next month.
Timing and delivery of the new pay rates is entirely in the hands of the employer, but with agreement now achieved on the formulation of wage schedules, the employer is expected to begin making the necessary payroll changes. This is expected to take about six weeks, in line with the implementation seen in comparable contract negotiations.
Members of the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association have voted 77 per cent in favour of accept a new collective agreement effective April 21, 2022 to March 31, 2025.
Highlights of the contract include a general wage increase of about 12-14% over three years for all members, plus additional increases for most members based on a review of all classifications over this period. The general wage increase is retroactive to April 1, 2022.
Members of your HSPBA Bargaining Committee (L-R: Allen Peters, Radiological Technologist; Candis Johnson, Supported Child Development Worker; Sapan Behar, Respiratory Therapist; Jennifer Hiscock, Respiratory Therapist; Cheryl Greenhalgh, Radiological Technologist; Jing-Yi Ng, Pharmacist; Mandi Ayers, Medical Laboratory Technologist and Kieran Shoker, Pharmacist)
Newest $3 million fund can be used to help you with training commenced between September 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023
Health Science Professional Bargaining Association members of Health Sciences Association are invited to apply for financial support from a new $3 million fund announced earlier this year.
For almost 20 years, provincial governments in BC worked deliberately to drive down wages for specialized health professionals in BC.
In many cases they succeeded, leaving health professionals earning some of the lowest wages relative to their colleagues across Canada. It was a misguided attempt to control health care costs; instead, it slowly undermined the health care system even before the pandemic created the current crisis of dire shortages and crushing workload.
For almost 20 years, provincial governments in BC worked deliberately to drive down wages for specialized health professionals in BC.
In many cases they succeeded, leaving health professionals earning some of the lowest wages relative to their colleagues across Canada. It was a misguided attempt to control health care costs; instead, it slowly undermined the health care system even before the pandemic created the current crisis of dire shortages and crushing workload.
BC’s 22,000 specialized health professionals working in hospitals and communities around the province reached a tentative agreement late Wednesday night after more than nine months of negotiations between the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC).
Jeanne Meyers, Executive Director of Health Sciences Association of BC (HSA), is lead negotiator for the HSPBA.
Since the resumption of negotiations at the end of September, the HSPBA Bargaining Committee has been working to advance measures to address recruitment, retention, shortage and workload issues which drive so many of the serious issues affecting the public health care system, the people who depend on it, and the professionals who keep it running.
