On Monday, the Vancouver Sun devoted front-page coverage to HSA's efforts to stop attacks on RPNs:

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/violent-assaults-on-nurses-by-patients-continue-at-abbotsford-hospital

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER 2016

BY VAL AVERY, PRESIDENT, HSA

We're hearing a lot of interesting things from members like you.

Over the summer, HSA circulated several surveys and invited members to participate in focus groups. Each explored different challenges and opportunities facing our union, and we'll be following up this fall with additional surveys, worksite visits and the annual regional meetings. It's all part of our commitment to giving members a greater say and a bigger role in charting our course.

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.

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE JULY 2016

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.

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE JULY 2016

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.

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE JULY 2016

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.

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2016

CHANGES TO BC LAW WILL REQUIRE MORE EMPLOYEES TO SUBMIT MANDATORY FINGERPRINTS