2012 bargaining must be about respect and regaining BCs competitive edge, HSA says
After three days of working through proposals from members and developing direction for 2012 bargaining, HSAs health science professionals elected members to the negotiating committee with a mandate to demand respect at the bargaining table.
HSA President Reid Johnson said the Liberal governments -net zero" mandate of 2010 has been renamed a -cooperative gains" mandate.
-HSA members served notice at the beginning of this year that continuing to fall behind our counterparts in other provinces is not an option.
-What HSA members are looking for in this round of bargaining is fairness and respect: Fair, respectful, and meaningful collective bargaining; and fair recognition for the role health science professionals play in the modern health care system," he said.
Delegates elected three members to the bargaining committee, who will represent members on the HSPBA negotiating team when bargaining gets underway for a new collective agreement. The current collective agreement expires March 31, 2012. Two board members were previously elected by the unions Board of Directors.
HSAs member representatives to the bargaining committee are:
• Val Avery (Board of Directors), Committee Co-Chair, Physiotherapist, Victoria General Hospital
• Kimball Finigan (Board of Directors), Committee Co-Chair, Radiation Therapist, BC Cancer Agency
• Cheryl Greenhalgh, Medical Radiation Technologist, Royal Columbian Hospital
• Edith MacHattie, Occupational Therapist, Centre For Child Development (Surrey)
• Denise Sylvest, Physiotherapist, Castlegar Community Health Centre and Talarico Place
Alternates to the bargaining committee are: Brendan Shields (Board of Directors), Music Therapist, Richmond Hospital; Candis Johnson, Supported Child Care Consultant, Child Development Centre of Prince George, and Rick Lascelle, Respiratory Therapist, Ridge Meadows Hospital.
HSAs executive director of Legal Services and Labour Relations, Jeanne Meyers, said that in preparation for bargaining, HSA and HEABC will begin negotiating essential service levels in January.
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Article in The Tyee: HSA president predicts tough bargaining in 2012