Mackenzie Counselling Services employees join HSA

Mackenzie Counselling Services (MCS) employees voted 100 per cent in favour of joining HSA.

HSA’s nine newest members work in reception, finance, counselling, supported child development, family support, and child and youth care roles. They serve the community of Mackenzie, a remote mill town located 185 km north of Prince George.

MCS employees join a growing wave of mental health care workers voting for union representation with HSA.

“We are so pleased to welcome Mackenzie Counselling Services employees to the HSA family. This is a win not just for the agency’s workers, but for the whole community,” said HSA President Val Avery.

“The delivery of quality mental health care begins with quality jobs. MCS’s employees work tirelessly to support families across the region.” she said.

Mackenzie Counselling Services employees provide counselling, child and youth mental health services, family enrichment programming, family services through infant and supported child development, and a safe home program.

HSA will be supporting our newest members at MCS in achieving parity in wages, benefits and retirement security with other community social service workers across the province. This includes the ability to enroll in the Municipal Pension Plan, the sixth-largest defined benefit pension plan in Canada, which holds $52 billion in assets.

“Having a union protects me for the future,” said Leticia Clattenburg, a family support worker at MCS. "Having a pension means a lot to me. And I hope that it will help our agency with current employee retention issues. A pension makes it more enticing for staff to stay.”