HSPBA Ratification: Information Package on the Tentative Agreement
For almost 20 years, provincial governments in BC worked deliberately to drive down wages for specialized health professionals in BC.
In many cases they succeeded, leaving health professionals earning some of the lowest wages relative to their colleagues across Canada. It was a misguided attempt to control health care costs; instead, it slowly undermined the health care system even before the pandemic created the current crisis of dire shortages and crushing workload.
With the tentative agreement just secured on behalf of all health science professionals, this begins to turn around.
- For the first time in decades, this proposed agreement provides significant pay increases, delivering members an increase of approximately 12 to 14% more, at the minimum, over three years.
- Cost of Living Adjustments are built in to protect pay against longer-term increases in inflation.
- Improvements to premiums for on-call, short-notice, super shifts and weekend shifts will put more money in many members’ pockets.
- A long-overdue update to the classification system provides more recognition of the complexity and scope of work, more opportunity for career advancement, and more respect.
- Specific provisions address the recruitment and retention crisis.
- Occupational health and safety changes address mental health under duress, unsafe workloads, infection control standards, access to personal protective equipment and prevention of violence in the workplace.
- Enhanced education leaves support professional development.
- A new focus on implementing recommendations to support the inclusion of Indigenous workers, patients and clients will work toward reconciliation and culturally-safe health care.
- Inclusion of communities that experience marginalization in the health care system is a major priority. The Bargaining Committee and the HSA Board of Directors strongly recommend voting in favour of ratification of this tentative agreement. Voting details are below.
In the coming weeks, HSA will be conducting a series of telephone town halls, inviting all members to call in to listen to reports, hear questions from other members, and ask questions themselves. More information on that will be coming soon, and in the meantime, here’s how you can learn more about the details of the tentative agreement:
Contact us with your questions
To find out more about how this tentative agreement will affect your position, send your questions to info@hsabc.org or contact us at 604-517-0994 or 1-800-663-2017.
Voting information
Voting on the tentative agreement is open to all members covered by the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association, and will be held on line. Voting will be open from 8:00 a.m. on December 14 to 11:59 p.m. on December 21, 2022.
You will need a voting credential to cast your vote; these will be sent out in the first week of December.