News & Updates

The Report: February / March 1999 vol.19 num.6 by LYN BLENKINSOP In September of 1997, I was fortunate enough to be chosen as one of 16health care workers, and one of five HSA members, to be trained by the Healthcare LabourAdjustment Agency to deliver peer counselling services to employees who have beendisplaced, threatened with future displacement or affected by changing...

The Report: February / March 1999 vol.19 num.6 by CINDY STEWART On February 17 the Labour Relations Board ruled that HSA is theappropriate union to represent clinical perfusionists in the health sector, and have beenso since the sprint of 1997 when they applied to be paramedical professionals. In Februaryof 1997, clinical perfusionists sought paramedical professional designation on the basisthat a...

The Report: February / March 1999 vol.19 num.6 by RICK LAMPSHIRE Congratulations to all of you! We can be proud of ourselves. Ninemonths of negotiations and over ten days of mediation have resulted in a collectiveagreement acceptable to 94 per cent of our paramedical professional membership. The 0-0-2wage mandate was pre-determined by the time we arrived at mediation. But we...

British Columbia's 10,000 paramedical professionals will be urged to vote in favour of Mediator Brian Foley's report recommending terms of settlement for a collective agreement between the Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association and the Health Employers' Association of BC.Cindy Stewart, President of the Health Sciences Association of BC (HSA) which represents approximately 90 per cent of paramedical professionals, says the bargaining...

Mediator Brian Foley has advised the Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association that his report recommending terms of settlement for a collective agreement will not be released this afternoon as planned. Mr. Foley will release his report in one week, on Wednesday, January 27.In a letter to the unions and employers, Mr. Foley said that he requires more time to give due...

The Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association announced this afternoon that they will return to the bargaining table Friday, January 15. The announcement came in response to a request by Labour Minister Dale Lovick that the unions and employers return the table with Mediator Brian Foley."We have agreed to continue mediated talks," said Cindy Stewart, President of the Health Sciences Association of...

Paramedical professionals to begin job action Monday, January 11Mediated talks between the Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association and the Health Employers' Association of BC broke down this afternoon after the employer presented a revised proposal that fails to address the unions' key bargaining issues and still contains significant concession demands.More than 10,000 paramedical professionals will begin job action on Monday, January...

Unions say mediation has been a "complete waste of time"The Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association today announced that it will issue 72-hour strike notice to the Health Employers' Association of BC on Tuesday, January 5. Cindy Stewart, President of the Health Sciences Association of BC (HSA), says HEABC's intransigence at the bargaining table leaves the unions with no other choice."Our bargaining...

The Report: January 1999 vol.19 num.5 by SARAH O'LEARY Can I be fired for being absent too often from work? If you are absent from work on a prolonged basis due to a chronic, long-term health problem, you are protected by the BC Human Rights Code. The Code imposes a duty on the part of the employer to seek some...

The Report: January 1999 vol.19 num.5 by RACHEL NOTLEY and CAROL RIVIERE HSA is assisting with a study of the effect of occupational chemicalexposure on the respiratory health of various groups of health care professionals. Thisstudy is being conducted by members of the Occupational and Environmental Lung DiseasesResearch Unit of the Department of Medicine, in conjunction with the Occupational HygieneProgramme...