News & Updates

24 Hours Vancouver By CHRIS CAMPBELL, 24 HOURS LABOUR Metro Vancouver patients can expect to wait longer for CT scans and MRIs as the Health Sciences Association announced rotating strikes for Thursday and Friday. Medical imaging technologists will be operating at essential-service levels from midnight Thursday to midnight Friday, except those at Surrey Memorial Hospital. "There may be additional waits,"...

Negotiators for health science professionals and health employers have agreed to mediation nine months after bargaining began. Mediator Vince Ready was brought in by the parties this week. -We are pleased to have Mr. Ready join us in trying to kick-start meaningful negotiations," said Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) Chief Negotiator Jeanne Meyers. -And weve already seen the benefit...

Vancouver SUn By Terri Theodore, The Canadian Press The province's health care workers objected to the mandatory vaccination program saying it was coercive and punitive.Photograph by: Jeff Mcintosh, The Canadian Press Files , The Canadian PressThe B.C. government has temporarily backed away from a controversial plan to force thousands of provincial health workers to get a flu shot before they...

Globe and Mail By Rod Mickleburgh VANCOUVER -- The province's health-care workers are hailing a last- minute reprieve in a landmark policy by public health officials that would have forced them to receive a flu shot or wear a surgical mask during their shifts. Staff who refused to comply with the policy - the first of its kind in Canada...

Canadian Press VANCOUVER - The B.C. government has temporarily backed away from its mandatory flu vaccination policy for thousands of provincial health care workers. Instead of forcing workers to get flu shots, the Health Ministry says it will work towards getting compliance from workers in the first year of the program. In a letter to B.C.'s health authority chief executive...

Canadian Press BC07 - (BC-Flu-Prevention) VANCOUVER. The head of the Health Sciences Association says his union is pleased the government has backed away from forcing its members to get a flu shot. Reid Johnson says members are encouraged to have flu vaccinations, but they don't want to be forced into something that involves their privacy. TAG: Instead of forcing workers...

On December 6, Canadians will once again pause to remember the importance of taking action against violence against women and girls. The date was declared by Canadas Parliament in 1991, in commemoration of the December 6, 1989 Montreal Massacre. Violence against women continues to be a serious issue in Canada. And most alarmingly is the violence against Aboriginal women and...

Aboriginal Service workers and social workers from Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society (VACFSS) are on strike on Tuesday, December 4. Striking workers want to send a clear message to the BC government: stop putting vulnerable Aboriginal families last!Since 2004, the BC Liberal government has cut $300 million in funding for programs that support vulnerable aboriginal families, recent immigrants...

The Daily News (Kamloops) Pressing for a wage hike, members of the Health Sciences Association of British Columbia are set to begin rotating strikes at hospitals across the province. The strikes begin Thursday when pharmacy services at hospitals, including Royal Inland Hospital, will be reduced to essential service levels from 9 a.m. to midnight. There will be no picket lines...

Canadian Press Members of the BC Health Sciences Association say they will begin strike action this week after months of inaction at the bargaining table. Hospital pharmacists will reduce their work to essential services this Wednesday and, on Friday, medical imaging techs will do the same. Association president Reid Johnson says members are frustrated after eight months of negotiations with...