Health Science Professionals
BCs Provincial Health Officer Perry Kendall yesterday announced new measures for influenza prevention among health care workers and patients. As in previous years, health care workers who work in patient care areas are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated annually against influenza. However, under the new policy, if health care workers chose not to be vaccinated they will be required to...
News of heart surgery cancellations in Vancouver this week unfortunately doesnt come as a surprise to the Health Sciences Association of BC, and the union is calling for immediate action by the Ministry of Health to address the shortages responsible for a long-standing and continuing weakness in health authorities ability to provide critical services for very ill patients. -HSA has...
The union representing rehabilitation therapists at Chilliwack General Hospital is joining community leaders in calling for consultation before the hospitals rehab unit is unilaterally closed. The Health Sciences Association represents physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, and other rehab specialists across BC, including at Chilliwack General Hospital. HSA President Reid Johnson said a unilateral closure of the rehab unit is a...
Bargaining discussions between the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) for a new collective agreement for BCs health science professionals will resume at the end of August.HSPBA Chief Negotiator Jeanne Meyers said the delay in bargaining is disappointing. The collective agreement, like many public sector collective agreements, expired on March 31, 2011.-Health science...
HSA has resolved a long-standing classification dispute with HEABC that involved 135 grievances and affected many more HSA members working in counselling professions.-The settlement agreement provides a continuing, consistent approach to classifying these jobs, which is important for ensuring that health science professionals receive fair compensation for their scope of responsibility" Kathy McLennan, HSA Membership Services Coordinator, said.A process is...
The Report: June 2012 vol.33 num.2 HSA AND ITS PHARMACIST MEMBERS have forced the government to back down on a plan to slash salaries for pharmacists by up to 14 per cent. The plan, announced without warning in January, would have eliminated a market adjustment for pharmacists introduced in 2006 to address chronic issues of recruitment and retention. HSA immediately...
Negotiations continue at the Health Science Professionals, Nursing, Community Health, and Community Social Services bargaining tables, but there is limited progress to report. Jeanne Meyers, Chief Negotiator for the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association and HSAs executive director of legal and labour relations, said all four bargaining tables in the health and community social services sectors report slow negotiations. In...
After months of preparation, the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) appeared before arbitrator John Hall Monday to argue an application for interim relief in a policy grievance that alleges HEABC is in contravention of the 2010-2012 HSPBA collective agreement for failing or refusing to work towards the objectives agreed to in bargaining. But the arbitrator adjourned the hearing because...
HSA continues to advocate on behalf of Lower Mainland laboratory technologists affected by the employers plans to consolidate services under one health authority.HSA met with the employer in a Section 54 meeting last Thursday, April 4. The employer has advised that they intend to transfer employment of all lab technologists to the Provincial Health Services Authority in the fall of...
Bargaining at the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association table continues to make slow but steady progress, HSPBA Chief Negotiator Jeanne Meyers reported today. Like most public sector union contracts in the province, the agreement expired March 31, 2012. -At the outset of bargaining, we said HSA is committed to the process, but that if we didnt see signs from employers...