CBA Bargaining: Impasse Reached with Employer

Shortly after 3:00 PST this afternoon your CBA Bargaining Committee declared that negotiations had reached an impasse with Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) and the provincial government.

After almost 20 days at the bargaining table, we have been unable to address the most acute bargaining priorities identified by members. Specifically:

• The retroactive removal of the Investment Return Guarantee Adjustment (IRGA) that has transferred millions of dollars from your benefit trust back to HEABC employers that would otherwise be used to solidify and expand your health benefits and avoid falling further behind other healthcare workers, most of which work for the same employers.
• The expansion of overtime by seniority to curtail the offering of overtime by convenience and relationships.
• Giving Community Health Workers (CHWs) the security of fixed shifts and breaks that other health care workers have had for decades and ensuring employers can’t revert to the ‘gig work’ scheduling that CHWs endured for 30 years.
• Fixing the wages, shift premiums, vacation, and other monetary entitlements to the same rates of other HEABC healthcare workers doing the same work. 

We have not taken this decision lightly, and in the absence of an offer that meets these demands, we are likely to conduct a strike vote.

As we move forward it is critical that your union has your up-to-date personal contact information to ensure you are kept informed and prepared. Please use the Member Contact Update Form to confirm your contact information. Encourage your co-workers to do the same if they haven't done so already.

In solidarity, 
Your Community Bargaining Association (CBA) Negotiating Committee