News & Updates

The Report: April / May 2002 vol.23 num.2 by MIRIAM SOBRINO hen the Liberal government was elected nearly a year ago, it was clear that the health care and social services systems were in for massive changes. Despite their promise to protect health care and education, it was clear the Liberals couldn’t do everything they had promised without someone paying...

The Report: April / May 2002 vol.23 num.2 by CINDY STEWART he full effects of the Campbell era in British Columbia hit us on April 1, the first day of the new fiscal year. In the coming weeks and months we will learn exactly what the regional health authorities have planned in their mission to achieve the funding targets put...

The Report: April / May 2002 vol.23 num.2 by AUDREY MacMILLAN lmost a year has passed since the Liberal government was elected, and already the signs are clear that British Columbians are taking a second look. On February 20, I joined with several HSA members and another 2,000 people for a rally in Chilliwack to protest the mean-spirited Campbell agenda...

The Report: April / May 2002 vol.23 num.2 by JEANNE MEYERS How does Bill 29 affect my rights to “bump” when faced with a lay-off? An HSA member facing lay-off is able to “bump” a more junior employee. Articles 10.01 and 10.05 of the Paramedical Professional Collective Agreement have been found by arbitrators to extend “bumping” rights to HSA employees...

The Report: April / May 2002 vol.23 num.2 by JEANNE MEYERS hen the provincial government introduced Bill 29, the legislation that dramatically changes the way health care is delivered in the public system, health care unions knew we had our work cut out for us. Bill 29 robs health care workers of basic negotiated protections. These include contracting-out provisions negotiated...

The Report: April / May 2002 vol.23 num.2 by DAN KEETON t’s a familiar story, but one that in HSA usually has a positive outcome. In this instance, we go back to 1992 when a newly unionized pre-school teacher attended her first union meeting and volunteered for the assistant chief steward’s job – because no one else wanted it. Renie...

Court asked to strike down Premier Campbell's contract-breaking law, Bill 29BC unions representing more than 100,000 health care workers today launched legal action in BC Supreme Court alleging that the Campbell government's contract-breaking legislation, Bill 29, violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is unconstitutional.And at a Vancouver press conference this afternoon, leaders from the four main health...

The union that represents more than 10,000 health science professionals across the province is concerned that the Liberals plan to privatize $700 million in health care service is only the beginning.Responding to a leaked budget document revealed Monday by the Hospital Employees Union, the Health Science Association of BC warns that many direct services to patients are also under threat."Despite...

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After promising that the government would protect "clinical services" in hospitals, the Campbell Liberals have quietly approved regulations that will allow health employers to privatize a variety of direct services to patients, including respiratory therapy, speech pathology, CT scans and MRI.Although the Liberal government claimed that Bill 29 would allow hospitals to privatize only "non-clinical services" such as laundry, janitorial...