News & Updates

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 HSA provides members and their children with several scholarships and bursaries for education. Scholarships are adjudicated by the union's education commiittee. Applications for 2016 will be accepted beginning in January 2016. Check for details at http://www.hsabc.org/member-benefits/scholarships-and-bursaries SCHOLARSHIP AWARDSShaelin Bishop, child of Maria Bishop, RPN, Lions Gate HospitalRobyn Boudreau, child of Jody Boudreau, physiotherapist, Shuswap Health...

The 2014-2019 HSPBA collective agreement includes provisions committing the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers' Association of BC (HEABC) to establish the Joint Health Science Benefits Trust (JHSBT) for provision of health and welfare benefits. The JHSBT will be governed by a Board of Trustees with an equal number of trustees appointed by HSPBA and HEABC, and...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 BY DENNIS BLATCHFORD HSA PENSIONS AND BENEFITS ADVOCATE Q: I understand there was a presentation on the new health and welfare trust at the recent HSA annual convention. What were the highlights? Yes, members of the Joint Health Sciences Benefit Trust (JHSBT) Working Group did a report out at the HSA convention in early May...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 By Val Avery, President Once again, I am honoured to have been elected to serve as your president. These are challenging times for people who work in health care and community social services. These are challenging times for unions. But we've proven that we can overcome these challenges – when we work together. We may...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 When Rachel Notley made history on May 5, no one was prouder than the HSA staff and members who worked with her back in the day. Notley, who led Alberta's New Democrats from four seats to government, ending 44 years of Progressive Conservative rule, worked at HSA from 1994 to 2002, representing injured workers and...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 Val Avery was re-elected president of HSA by delegates attending convention in May. In her remarks just prior to balloting, she spoke of how er roots in the labour movement fuel her determination to fight for the future of HSA members. The full text of her speech follows. ------- My community for the first 18...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 BY CAROL RIVIERE The upcoming federal election is an opportunity for all of us to take a stand on issues that matter. Issues like child care, good jobs, retirement security, and health care matter to Canadians, and in this election voters have a chance to make a better choice. For the very young and their...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 BY LAURA BUSHEIKIN Stasia Hasumi, a Crisis Intervention Support Worker at the Comox Valley Transition Society, has plenty of high-stress moments at work. As a front-line worker at a 12-bed transition house for women and children, she needs to respond moment-by-moment to the needs of women facing danger, trauma and severely disrupted lives. "We have...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 HSA member David Bland was a vocational counsellor who worked at Richmond Mental Health Services. At the end of an otherwise ordinary work day in January of 2005, as David left his workplace, a former client was waiting in the parking lot – and fatally stabbed David. To honour his memory, the union established the...

HSA REPORT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015 Acknowleding the diversity of HSA members and the issues they care about, HSA President Val Avery opened the convention with a report on how the board of directors, committees and activists must daily strive to balance demands and goals. "We represent a hundred different professions," said Avery. "But those differences don't divide us – they...