The Report

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 he recently-created Canadian Health Professionals Secretariat (CHPS) held a highly successful two-day meeting in Ottawa at the end of February to plot strategy for tackling the many challenges health professionals across the country are expected to face this year. During the meeting the Secretariat welcomed three new independent unions as members: the...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 by CINDY STEWART recent article in the Globe and Mail (April 7, 2004) is one of the most articulate and succinct defences of our public medicare system I have seen in the mainstream media. Gordon Guyatt, a professor in health sciences at McMaster University in Ontario, takes up a few column inches...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 by RON OHMART ith contract negotiations in the health care sector getting their fair share of media and public interest in the past few months, there has been an increased awareness and curiosity about HSA’s major collective agreement, the Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association contract with the Health Employers Association of BC. The...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 by JACKIE SPAIN hen we are angry as workers about what is happening in BC in the health care system and our society in general, we have to remember that we were the architects of our own destiny. The province had a democratic vote for the government of choice. The people voted...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 by LEANNE WALSH My mother is very ill. I have heard that there is a new employment insurance paid leave for which I can apply so that I can take time off work to care for her. What are the details? There have been recent changes to the Employment Insurance Act. As...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 by CAROLE PEARSON t’s a great profession,” says physiotherapist Amanda Bartlett about her job. “You get to work with so many wonderful people as your patients and you can see first hand the magnitude of the effect you can have on their lives.” Amanda Bartlett Physiotherapist Kelowna General Hospital (and beyond) Bartlett...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 s is the case with many unions representing professional, public sector employees, HSA and its members have become more active in the political arena. As an organization, and as individuals, HSA members have become increasingly vocal about government decisions which affect their patients and clients, and which affect themselves as health care...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 by BUD GODDERIS few months ago I was part of a meeting with HSA’s Committee for Equality and Social Action (CESA) to talk about the human rights and social justice work of the Ecumenical Task Force for Justice in the Americas (formerly Christian Task Force on Central America). As a retired member...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 hat are your key concerns about working conditions? What role does the union play in your workplace? What challenges do you encounter to provide the standards of care that are consistent with good nursing practice? These are some of the provocative questions that RPNs from across the province tackled earlier this year...

The Report: April / May 2004 vol.25 num.2 ore than 13,000 community health workers represented by HSA and eight other unions in the Community Bargaining Association (CBA) have voted 78 per cent to accept a new collective agreement. Employers have also ratified the 2-year contract which, in exchange for modest concessions, discourages massive contracting out under Bill 29 and creates...