News & Updates

Overtime ban imposed 7 am Thursday to 7 am Sunday. Community nurses will hold study sessions Monday to plan action for substantial boost in vehicle mileage rates.The Nurses Bargaining Association today announced a new round of job action in its drive for a contract that will enable BC to compete globally to retain and recruit the nurses needed during the...

Contract talks between health science professionals and the Health Employers Association of BC deteriorated today when the employer refused to table a wage proposal or to remove concession demands from the table."HSA tabled a proposal that offers solutions for the severe shortage of health science professionals in the BC health system almost two weeks ago. The solution is professional pay...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by DAN KEETON Leslie Sofarelli Social Worker Intensive Care Unit, St. Paul's Hospital Leslie Sofarelli might rival some of the best gumshoes in the business with her success rate in tracking down long-lost relatives, but youd be hard-pressed to find a private investigator who could bring half the compassion to their work...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by BRUCE WILKINS What is the scope of an employee's right to refuse overtime? Working people have many different attitudes towards working overtime. Some welcome overtime as the opportunity to put some more money in the bank. Others wish to accrue extra time off to tag on to that long-awaited vacation. Others...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by MAUREEN WHELAN The more things change, the more they remain the same. Thirty years ago, health science professionals felt they were losing out in respect of the wages they were paid. Their reference points were the relative wages paid to other health care workers, and the rising cost of living that...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by CHERYL GREENHALGH In 1993, as a newly elected board member, I never imagined how far my activism would extend or how much that commitment would come to mean to me. As I now prepare to leave HSAs Board of Directors, I cant help but look back on the many years of...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by CINDY STEWART With a throne speech and budget that spelled out a commitment to health care, the NDP government set the stage last month for an election campaign with a strong commitment to health care. The timing couldn’t be better – for HSA members and for all British Columbians. The four...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by ANITA BLOY and SALLY HALLIDAY Chances are, many of you know somebody in your personal or professional life who is the victim of spousal violence. An astounding fifty one per cent of Canadian women have been or are victims of physical or sexual abuse. Violence against women in intimate relationships touches...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by DAN KEETON H SA members at Vernon Jubilee hospital knew they were being seriously overworked. Now, after initiating a survey of members at the facility, they have proof. The chapter at the Okanagan hospital is also a bit of a Cinderella story. It now has several active stewards and regular union-management...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by MIRIAM SOBRINO Bargaining for a new collective agreement for 14,000 health science professionals is off to a slow start, with the Health Employers Association of BC clearly reluctant to make any real moves to facilitate negotiations. In the last week of March, the unions tabled a wage demand, calling for a...