HSA welcomes 11 new members from CMHA BC division
The Health Sciences Association (HSA) is proud to welcome 11 new members from the Canadian Mental Health Association’s (CMHA) BC division, who voted 100 per cent in favour of joining HSA. This is the fourth successful union vote to take place in relation to CMHA BC division worksites, where workers have been fully united voting 100 percent in favour of joining HSA.
The union’s new members work in accounting, administrative support, communications, and information technology.
“We are excited to welcome such an incredible group to HSA and to the broader union movement,” said HSA President Val Avery. “Through joining the union, workers at CMHA BC division are raising the bar for themselves and the organization’s future workers. Their dedication has been a testament to how when we work together, we can achieve fairness and justice in the workplace.”
This spring, 30 CMHA BC division employees working in social programming joined HSA after a unanimous workplace vote in favour of joining the union. By early July, another seven members from CMHA BC division’s Community Action Initiative voted to join HSA. With the latest certification efforts and program expansion, the CMHA BC division chapter now includes close to 50 members.
The CMHA BC division Vancouver office, along with Community Action Initiative, are now fully unionized with HSA and are represented by the Community Bargaining Association (CBA) and the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA).
“The more connected we are, the stronger we can be for ourselves, our families and our communities,” said Ciboney Melo, the resource clearinghouse coordinator from CMHA BC division’s community engagement department.
Melo said that joining HSA marks a turning point for her and her co-workers. “It’s a very exciting feeling, but it’s just the starting point for shaping our workplace. It’s been a process of recognizing that we can’t do this alone, we need to do this together.”