Health science professionals bargaining focuses on wellness
Members of the Heath Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) bargaining committee spent the past several days in productive discussions with the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) aimed at finding ways to contain and manage costs of benefits without reducing benefits that have previously been negotiated.
-We recognize that to achieve a collective agreement that serves to retain and recruit critical members of the modern health care team, we have to work cooperatively and creatively to ensure health science professionals have the support they need. That includes wellness programs and an enhanced disability management program that reduces the time lost to illness and injury," said HSPBA Chief Negotiator Jeanne Meyers.
-Health science professionals have given this bargaining committee a mandate to negotiate a fair and reasonable agreement that maintains health and welfare benefits, as one of the elements needed to keep and attract the specialized professions we need to keep British Columbians healthy, - she said.
In addition to discussions about wellness strategies, bargainers continue to explore opportunities to modernize the classification system to ensure that health science professionals have proper levels of supervision, as well as practice leadership, and clinical decision-making reporting lines.
Bargaining resumes next Tuesday (Oct. 23).