Your elected HSA representatives and staff have been hard at work since the union's 45th convention in May. The upcoming regional meetings will be a good opportunity to provide updates on that work, and a chance for stewards and other activists to connect and discuss the issues in your region.
In preparation for those meetings, please take a few minutes to review some of the important work HSA has been involved in.
BY VAL AVERY, PRESIDENT
I am very proud of what we have achieved in the last 45 years.
I am especially proud of what we have been able to achieve in these last few years.
In the face of governments determined to squeeze our members for every penny, we have adapted, finding ways to achieve security in the face of sweeping change, wage growth in the face of austerity, and protection of hard-won benefits in the face of cuts.
As HSA adapts to a changing world and chooses to be a stronger, more innovative union, the Local Leadership Training program will provide members with cutting-edge training and professional skills to improve HSA workplaces, protect our professions and build a stronger union.
HSA members face increased pressure from governments and employers, attacks on our members' professional integrity from the leadership of the BCNU and health care funding cuts from our provincial and federal governments.
The outcome of the May 2017 provincial election will have a huge impact on HSA members, and the patients and clients we serve.
"HSA is a non-partisan union, and proudly so," says HSA President Val Avery.
"But that doesn't mean we won't warn our members –or the public – about dangerous, short-sighted policies proposed by governments of any stripe."
That's why HSA members may apply for support from HSA's Political Action Fund to work on election campaigns, attend election campaign training, or even run for political office.
Over the past 5 years, the BCNU leadership has taken an aggressive and adversarial approach that undermines the autonomy and professional integrity of HSA members in their workplaces and in their union. These actions have resulted in the expulsion of BCNU from the BC Federation of Labour, Canadian Labour Congress and other progressive bodies across Canada.
Nurses covered by the Nurses Bargaining Association (NBA) contract, including the 900 Registered Psychiatric Nurses represented by HSA, have voted 85 per cent in favour of accepting a new collective agreement.
The new agreement features wage increases for all nurses, some changes to benefits coverage, and a number of contract changes that address staffing issues, education, and violence in the workplace.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The tentative agreement achieves eight of the 11 priorities HSA's RPNs set for bargaining, including:
A summary of the tentative agreement 2014 – 2019 for the Nurses Bargaining Association, and instructions on how to vote on the agreement, will be mailed to all NBA members shortly.
Mail ballots must be returned to HSA by the end of the day on Friday, May 6.
CHANGES TO BC LAW WILL REQUIRE MORE EMPLOYEES TO SUBMIT MANDATORY FINGERPRINTS
Following last week’s signing of a tentative agreement for a renewed collective agreement for all nurses in BC’s public health care system, HSA will hold two telephone town hall meetings to provide members with information about the terms of the tentative agreement.
The Health Sciences Association (HSA) and Professional Employees Association (PEA), the two unions that represent psychologists and psychometrists in BC's public health care system, welcome yesterday's Labour Relations Board (LRB) decision to deny a BC Nurses' Union (BCNU) application to further destabilize labour relations in BC's hospitals.
