News & Updates

The Report: August / September 2000 vol.21 num.4 by DAN KEETON You might say that Karin Cleven takes her work home with her. After a busy day as a supervisor at SHARE Family & Community Services Society, Cleven plows her energies into securing permanent funding for individuals with fetal alcohol syndrome and their families. Clevens experience in counselling sparked her...

VANCOUVER - An interprovincial meeting of unions representing more than 75,000 health care professionals wrapped up an annual two-today conference today by calling for a national strategy to address the Canada-wide shortage of health professionals and the growing trend toward privatization."It is important for the federal government to realize that the shortage of health care professionals is not limited to...

Joint news release from HEU, BCNU, BCGEU and HSAHealth care workers and other medicare advocates in B.C. joined thousands of demonstrators across Canada today to demand immediate action by Ottawa to stop privatization of medicare.-We are on the brink of Canadas biggest medical emergency ever," Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, warned a huge crowd outside the...

The Report: June / July 2000 vol.21 num.3 by YUKIE KURAHASHI HSA has won a significant Workers' Compensation Board appeal, marking one of the first times the WCB has recognized psychological disability caused by workplace harassment for union activity. The WCB initially rejected the claim of the former HSA chief steward, who developed a disabling depression due to extensive and...

The Report: June / July 2000 vol.21 num.3 by YUKIE KURAHASHI When the management of Magnolia House announced last year that they would be closing the North Vancouver facility, the employees - including twelve HSA members - thought they would be losing their jobs. In fact, they were issued lay-off notices in April, and many workers had already started the...

The Report: June / July 2000 vol.21 num.3 by RACHEL NOTLEY The Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Healthcare has approved $10,000 for HSA to continue research relating to on-call work. Last fall, HSA retained a PhD candidate from UBC to conduct a literature search on the issue of on-call work. Her findings showed that there were a variety of...

The Report: June / July 2000 vol.21 num.3 HSA Classifications staff are responsible for the myriad issues that flow from negotiating, implementing, and administrating the classifications systems of four master collective agreements: the Paramedical Professional Collective Agreement, the Nurses Collective Agreement, the Health Services and Support Community Subsector Agreement, and the Community Social Services Collective Agreement. The area has three...

The Report: June / July 2000 vol.21 num.3 Typically, when a dispute arises in the workplace, HSAs stewards are able to resolve the issue, either through discussion or through filing a grievance. Sometimes, in the case of a particularly difficult situation or one that involves regional issues, the steward consults a labour relations officer, who then works with the steward...

The Report: June / July 2000 vol.21 num.3 by YUKIE KURAHASHI It might start with a sore throat, watery eyes, nausea, and headaches that develop while youre at work and subside when you get home. The symptoms might progress to constant fatigue, rashes, anaemia, and gastrointestinal problems. A few sufferers may develop debilitating symptoms when exposed to car exhaust, smoke...

The Report: June / July 2000 vol.21 num.3 Over 250 delegates attended this years HSA Convention, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver on March 31 and April 1. Delegates welcomed guests from around the province and across the country to their 29th Annual Convention. HSA President Cindy Stewarts speech to delegates reflected this years convention theme: HSA members...