The Report

By HSA President Val Avery Voting in our Provincial Election will take place this Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. This is one year before our next fixed-date election, which would have been on Oct. 16, 2021. The reality is that – early election call or not -- this provincial election was always going to be held during the COVID-19 pandemic. Holding...

By Zayn Wiwchar, HSA member In February and July of 2020, the Victoria branch staff of the Canadian Mental Health Association joined HSA and entered the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and the Community Bargaining Association (CBA) —a decision that has given me the opportunity to be a part of incredible changes in our office over the past year...

By Easter Tocol, HSA member “Where are you from? No, where are you really from?”  “I’m not a racist, I have so many friends of colour.”  “Well, shouldn’t all lives matter?”  These are just some of the racist microagressions that I hear every day in the workplace.  It is usually not meant to hurt, and is done with little awareness...

By Jill Slind, Co-chair of the HSA Young Workers' Advisory Group As a full-time permanent employee with a few years of seniority under my belt in my unionized position in HSA, I knew when going into BC’s Phase One in March that my job in the healthcare sector wasn’t likely on the line. I knew that if I felt ill...

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed some major challenges for caregivers and parents. Parents who have lost income since the pandemic hit are facing new struggles to cover household expenses and stay afloat. And when schools shut down in the spring, parents needed to be resourceful and adapt quickly, making childcare arrangements and helping kids with online school. While many daycare...

“Everybody depends on somebody who depends on childcare.” By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications The pandemic has shone a light on existing inequities in Canada, when it became very clear that some groups – such as precarious and racialized workers, women, seniors, and migrants – would be hit hardest by the health crisis and the hurting economy. Gaps in our social...

By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications Angie Combs, aboriginal patient liaison worker at Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, BC, recalls that staff at the hospital would occasionally ask her to teach them some words and phrases in Gitxsanimaax, the language spoken by the Gitxsan First Nation. The hospital is on Gitxsan territory, which spans 33,000 square kilometers across northwest BC. “I...

By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications 2019 marks the 100th year anniversary off the Winnipeg General Strike, when 35,000 unionized and non-unionized workers in Winnipeg walked off the job in support of striking building and metal workers. Beginning May 15, 1919, and lasting over six weeks, the Winnipeg General Strike is a landmark historical event recognized for its expressions of working...

By Vicky Grant, HSA memberI have been working at BC Cancer as a radiation therapist for almost 25 years. Most of that time has been at the Surrey Centre, formerly known as the Fraser Valley Cancer Center. Radiation therapists are involved in planning and delivering radiation therapy treatment to cancer patients, and assist in assessing and managing the treatment’s side...

By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications Ingrid Mendez and her partner didn’t come here from Guatemala because they thought Canada was a beautiful country. “I’m not saying it’s not,” she explained. “No, we’re here because we were forced to leave. We came here because w e needed to save our lives and those of our families.” Now Mendez works actively to...