Issues, Campaigns and Government Relations

The federal government is turning its back on health care at a time when we need our elected leaders to help build a caring future for Canada. The current federal-provincial-territorial agreement on health care will end in 2014 and the federal government has walked away from the negotiating table with the provinces before negotiations have even started. Some provinces have...

Q: Im scheduled to work July 1, and not on July 2. However, my employer says that I will not be getting paid at the -statutory holiday" rate for work on July 1. Is this right? A: This year, July 1 falls on a Sunday. According to the federal Holidays Act, this means the legal statutory holiday is July 2...

Late Monday evening, the BCGEU will commence a one-day job action at BC Liquor distribution centres in Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops. HSA members are encouraged to join the BCGEU members at each of the three locations throughout the action, but primarily from 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 until the action is over at the end of the day...

Negotiations aimed at concluding a new contract covering 16,000 health care and administrative workers in the Community Health Services and Support sub-sector continued last week in Vancouver. Talks will continue.On Monday and again on Wednesday last week, the Health Employers Association of British Columbia (HEABC) presented a broad based benefits proposal. The Community Bargaining Association (CBA) is reviewing the proposals...

Health care professionals across the country will be staging a National Day of Action for Refugee Health Care on Monday, June 18 to protest the Conservative government's cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP).National organizations representing several health professions, including the Canadian Association of Social Workers and the Canadian Pharmacists Association, are organizing events to protest these drastic cuts...

HSAs younger workers are a crucial and dynamic part of our union. In recent years, weve identified shifting attitudes, needs, and ideas from these members. For a better understanding of these needs and to develop a strategy for more effectively engaging and mobilizing younger workers, HSA is invites your participation in a collaborative project. To inform future HSA services and...

Talks broke down yesterday between the provincial government, employers and the ten unions representing BC's 15,000 community social services workers. As a result, there will be a strike vote for all unionized workers in the sector. Outstanding issues include: wages, benefits, sick leave, reimbursable expenses and concessionary demands by the employer, including revisiting improvements gained in the last round of...

Monday June 4, Health Sciences Association of BC is participating in Black Out, Speak Out by blacking out our websites. We are joining Canada's major environmental organizations, and leading charities, unions, bloggers, and others in darkening our website in defence of two core Canadian values: nature and democracy. By doing so, we are joining thousands of Canadians from all walks...

The Report: June 2012 vol.33 num.2 HSA WORKS TO RAISE THE PROFILE OF THE WORK YOU DO. Thats one of the most important objectives of your union. Its a long-term plan members have asked us to invest in through the advertising campaigns we do every year, and these campaigns are already making a difference. But the general public is not...

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...