From Jan. 20 to Feb. 7, 2020, Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) HSA members were invited to complete an online survey investigating experiences of racism at work. Over 200 HSA members working in health care and community social services shared personal accounts of how racism and white supremacy operate within their workplace cultures and impact their daily lives. Survey results provide insight into how discrimination operates at the institutional level, impeding career growth, professional development, and employment opportunities.

Health care workers throughout British Columbia are asked to share their experiences with racism and discrimination in the health-care system as part of a new survey launched by Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond on Friday, July 31, 2020.

HSA’s Board of Directors has voted unanimously to waive the union’s policy on collecting union dues on all employment income to exclude employment income earned under the Temporary Pandemic Pay announced May 19.
 

TO: HSA members working in Long Term Care

In an effort to slow the transmission of COVID-19 in BC’s hard-hit Long Term Care facilities, BC’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, issued two province-wide orders aimed at restricting movement of health care staff between Long Term Care facilities. The orders went into effect yesterday, Thursday March 26, 2020

By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications

Angie Combs, aboriginal patient liaison worker at Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, BC, recalls that staff at the hospital would occasionally ask her to teach them some words and phrases in Gitxsanimaax, the language spoken by the Gitxsan First Nation. The hospital is on Gitxsan territory, which spans 33,000 square kilometers across northwest BC.

“I started with speaking phrases like, ‘How are you today,’” said Combs.

 For Immediate Release

Health Sciences Association of BC says today’s provincial budget makes important investments in health care and affordability measures, but professional shortages in the health care system require action.

HSA represents more than 18,000 highly trained professionals working in medical imaging and lab testing, physiotherapy, social work, respiratory therapy, pharmacy, early childhood development, and many other health science and social service professions.

By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications

2019 marks the 100th year anniversary off the Winnipeg General Strike, when 35,000 unionized and non-unionized workers in Winnipeg walked off the job in support of striking building and metal workers.

By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications

Ingrid Mendez and her partner didn’t come here from Guatemala because they thought Canada was a beautiful country.

Successful Charter challenge to provisions banning extra-billing, private insurance would create two-tier system
By HSA President Val Avery

Public health care is one of Canada’s greatest achievements. But our most-cherished social program is under threat.

This morning the BC government introduced Bill 41, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

This bill requires all provincial laws to align with UNDRIP, and is an important and concrete step to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into a provincial legislative framework. Once passed, BC will be the first province to bring the internationally recognized standards of UNDRIP into provincial law.