Vancouver Sun

The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which advises people to stay home if they think they have the flu, has been told to stop punishing its own workers for calling in sick.

In response to a grievance launched last year by the Hospital Employees' Union and other health unions, arbitrator Vince Ready has ruled that the health authority must end the practice of denying overtime, reducing hours or threatening to fire workers for illness or injury.

The Daily Courier (Vernon)

FRONT PAGE PHOTO

Gary Nylander, The Vernon Daily Courier / About 70 employees of the Central Okanagan Child Development Centre, who are members of the Health Sciences Association, were off work Wednesday as part of rotating job action in B.C. The strikers were bolstered by students from Okanagan College's early childhood education program, who carried homemade signs as they waved at passing motorists along Bernard Avenue.

castanet.net 

Employees at the Central Okanagan Child Development Association walked off the job today as part of rotating strikes in the province's community social services sector.

The Daily Courier (Kelowna) 

Therapists, counsellors and other workers at Central Okanagan Child Development Centre will be off the job today as part of rotating job action. Essential services will be maintained.

It is a continuation of rotating strikes in the community social services sector across B.C. that began on Oct. 16. More than 20 agencies on Vancouver Island went on strike the week of Dec. 10 seeking a fair deal with employers.

castanet.net 

Employees at the Central Okanagan Child Development Association will be walking off the job tomorrow (Jan. 23) as part of rotating strikes in the province's community social services sector.

The COCDA is affiliated with the Health Sciences Association, but they fall under the community services contract. The group has been working without a contract since April of last year and routinely find themselves understaffed.

castanet.net 

Don. W. started drinking when he was 13 to numb the pain he felt from years of bullying and sexual, physical and mental abuse.

The Keremeos man remained an alcoholic for much of his life, until at age 53, he realized he wanted to re-discover who he was.

A big part of finding himself was getting counselling through the South Okanagan Victim Assistance Society, SOVAS. Now the men's counselling program, which turned his life around, is facing financial challenges due to cutbacks in fundraising money.

Okanagan Sunday

After scratching together funding for its men's counselling program, the South Okanagan Victim Assistance Society (SOVAS) could be forced to cut its hours due to financial challenges.

For the past four years, Anne Reinders has been a counsellor for the program, which provides free counselling to men who have suffered emotional, physical or sexual abuse, either as children or as adults.

She said that since the inception of the program, SOVAS staff have recognized its need and has been committed to coming up with ways to fund the counselling program.

Dawson Creek Daily News

Vancouver Sun

KUDOS CORPORATE GIVING

Van-Whole Produce raised $15,498 through sales of top sweet mandarin oranges this fall for the Canadian Cancer Society, BC & Yukon.

Donations of $10,000 each from Dr. Miriam Yu, and Mr. and Mrs. Sing and Patricia Yeo to Tapestry Foundation for Health Care helped launch Scotiabank Feast of Fortune supporting Rapid Access Breast Clinic at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital.

Prince George Citizen