HSPBA Members Elected to Represent Colleagues on Contract Negotiating Committee
Delegates from worksites around the province gathered in Burnaby this week to begin the work on negotiating the next collective agreement for members covered by the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association.
Over 1300 individual bargaining proposals, covering a wide range of issues, were submitted by chapters throughout BC, and delegates to the bargaining proposal conference did the hard work of reviewing, discussing and prioritizing these to help the negotiating committee prepare for talks which are expected to begin in the spring. The current contract expires March 31, 2025.
“The members who worked on the prioritization committee did extraordinary work assessing many important proposals and ensuring the needs of all members were considered,” said Kane Tse, HSA President. “I’d like to thank committee members Mattie Bakker, Charlotte Boon, Kseniya Chernushkin, Kyle Collins, Deanna Enciso, Romene Sablok and Tiger Ye for their hard work on this.”
Delegates also elected the following member representatives to serve on the negotiating committee that will lead negotiations with the employer in 2025:
- Doug Herasymuik (Affiliated Employers)
- Jason Tan (Fraser Health Authority)
- Tiger Ye (Interior Health)
- Kyle Collins (Island Health)
- Mandi Ayers (Northern Health Care)
- Kirn Sanghera (Providence Health Care)
- Keiran Shoker (Provincial Health Services Authority)
- Gita Joshi (Vancouver Coastal)
Two members of HSA’s Board of Directors will also sit on the negotiating committee:
- Brooke Carter
- Jing-Yi Ng
“I want to commend the delegates who worked so hard over three days to work through all the proposals that came in from across the province, having thoughtful and serious discussions about them, and giving consideration to them whether or not they directly impacted their own worksite or profession. That’s the solidarity we need – across professions, across employers, and across regions – the unity of purpose that will make us stronger as sit down at the bargaining table in a few months,” said Tse.
“It’s so worth it to attend the conference, I think it would be great to rotate this with staff members so that everyone is more exposed to this and feel more connected to HSA,” said Marianna, a pharmacist at St. Paul’s Hospital. “When everything is good, we don’t even know the union exists and we only really come when something happens. But by doing that, we really miss the connections and the engagement on both sides.”
“I’m really pleased to see that a lot of other chapters across the province have sent in very similar proposals and that it’s been reflected in the priorities of the committee,” said Ian, a radiation therapist at BC Cancer Kelowna. “This is round three for me, and I’d encourage anybody else to do it, too. You learn a lot about the union and how things work and how our contract winds up happening.”
“I’ve certainly learned a lot about different issues and concerns, and through it all I’m seeing a thread of shared concerns and themes across these very different professions,” said Alexandra, a speech-language pathologist working in North Vancouver. “Having been in the classifications group, I’ve learned a lot about the nuanced language of the classification system and just how complicated it is. There’s been a lot of rigorous thought and research put into how to approach this and certainly allow for opportunity for improvement moving forward for all the different professions."
“I definitely intend to return and take part in this process in the future,” said Matthew, a sonographer and assistant lead steward working at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. “I would encourage members who are new to attend, it’s something that you can have massive takeaways that you can bring back to your site and your department.”
To learn more about the negotiation process, click here to watch our video that covers the entire bargaining cycle in less than four minutes.