Issues, Campaigns and Government Relations

Following up on the vote by delegates to the 2014 BC Federation of Labour convention, a campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 and hour in BC is building momentum. A key component of the campaign is to hold monthly actions on the 15th of every month to advocate for the change. Increasing the minimum wage to $15/hour would...

Members may apply for Political Action Fund support to attend political action training which is: non-partisan; or offered by labour organizations with which HSA is affiliated; or offered by political parties that meet all of HSA’s 4 criteria, by demonstrating support for the following: i) a positive role for the public sector; ii) the principles of the Canada Health Act...

The following letter from HSA President Val Avery was sent to members December 11, 2014 Dear member, Assaults on health care workers in Penticton and Kamloops have dominated the news this week. Incidents like these have become all too common in health care settings. It is time for action. I am calling on British Columbia's Minister of Health, Hon. Terry...

25 years ago, on December 6, 1989, 14 women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal, were killed in a gender-based act of violence. They were: Geneviève Bergeron Hélène Colgan Nathalie Croteau Barbara Daigneault Anne-Marie Edward Maud Haviernick Barbara Klucznik Widajewicz Maryse Laganière Maryse Leclair Anne-Marie Lemay Sonia Pelletier Michèle Richard Annie St-Arneault Annie Turcotte In 1991, Canada's Parliament declared December 6th...

A National Survey on Domestic Violence The findings are shocking – one third of the respondents to a recent survey reported experiencing domestic violence at the hands of an intimate partner. More than half of those reporting abuse said that at least one type of abusive act occurred at or near their workplace. The most common types of abuse that...

HSA REPORT, DECEMBER 2014 By David Durning, HSA Senior OHS Officer Over the years, Canadian workers have fought for and gained important workplace health and safety rights. The diligent exercise of these rights is proven to be the most effective way of ensuring workplace hazards are controlled. These rights, enshrined in legislation and regulation, are: the right to know about...

HSA REPORT, DECEMBER 2014 Professional recognition days, weeks and months come and go. Posters go up on bulletin boards, posts go up on social media sites. Maybe there’s cupcakes. It’s a great chance to educate and celebrate the work that makes our health care and community social service systems work, but it’s getting harder to break through the noise and...

HSA REPORT, DECEMBER 2014 By Carol Riviere, Communications Deep ties to her community and long-time union activism helped HSA vice-president Janice Morrison secure a spot on Nelson city council in the recent municipal election. "My family have lived here since the 1920's, and I've served my community in many different ways in the 25 years I've called Nelson home," says...

Please make a note of our contact information effective Jan. 5, 2015: Health Sciences Association of BC 180 East Columbia Street New Westminster, BC V3L 0G7 New Phone: 604 517 0994 / toll free 800 663 2017New Fax: 604 515 8889 / toll free 800 663 6119

October 26 to November 1 is Respiratory Therapist week, and to celebrate, HSA has invited Lily Cheung, an RT at Vancouver General Hospital, to take over the HSA twitter feed for a week and post about daily life on the front lines of respiratory therapy. It's all part of HSA's work to promote the visibility and public awareness of our...