News & Updates

Campbell River Courier-Islander Car horns were blaring on Dogwood Street on Monday, not because of the traffic lights but in support for the community social services workers who staged a one day walk out and picket line at Dogwood and 3rd Avenue. Cherie Dobbie, Chair of the local BC Government Employees Union said that community social services workers such as...

Times Colonist (Victoria) Expect to see some Greater Victoria firefighters wearing surgical masks this flu season. Greater Victoria fire chiefs have endorsed a policy patterned after one used by the B.C. Ambulance Service, in which members who choose not to get flu shots are required to wear surgical masks when attending to ill people, the elderly or when entering patient...

The Delta Optimist Delta Hospital was targeted for job action last Friday Patients scheduled for medical imaging procedures were notified their appointments had been cancelled. The Health Sciences Association (HSA), represented by the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA), last week said rotating strikes at various facilities would take place on Thursday and Friday. This occurred despite health science professionals...

The Globe and Mail VANCOUVER -- In a reaction perhaps unique in labour annals, negotiators for the Health Sciences Association are so outraged by the provincial government's last contract offer that they have called off their latest round of job action. The unusual strategy was prompted by a proposal that the union charged was riddled with concessions, classification rollbacks and...

Alberni Valley Times British Columbia's health science professionals have called off upcoming rotating strikes after getting a new contract proposal from the government over the weekend, but the union says it's still not taking the deal. Workers including those who conduct X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and other imaging procedures had walked off the job last week, and...

HSA members will soon be preparing for the 2013 HSA Convention, to be held April 18 - 20, 2013 at the Fairmont Hotel (Vancouver Hotel) in Vancouver.Annual convention is the union's annual meeting where chapter representatives from around the province determine the union's future direction. Policies, actions, constitutional amendments, and structural changes are all discussed and debated at convention.Members who...

HSA members throughout the province who are running for office or working in the upcoming provincial election may apply to HSA for financial support from HSA's Political Action Fund. 1. Members who are candidates may apply for up to 30 days of wage replacement and/or up to $200 to cover approved personal expenses incurred to run for office. 2. Members...

Members may apply for Political Action Fund support to attend election campaign training which is: a) non-partisan (e.g., the Canadian Women Voters Congress Women's Campaign School); or b) offered by labour organizations with which HSA is affiliated (e.g., the BC Federation of Labour, the Canadian Labour Congress, labour councils etc); orc) offered by political parties that meet all of HSA's...

Due to the large number of members who have expressed an interest in getting involved in the upcoming provincial election, HSA is holding another 2-day, non-partisan election campaign school. This workshop is designed for HSA members with little or no experience in electoral politics, but who are interested in working on election campaigns or running for political office. The school...

Times Colonist (Victoria) This week's anticipated cancellation of medical procedures in Vancouver Island hospitals was called off Sunday, but the dispute between health professionals and their employers continues. After three days of talks overseen by veteran labour mediator Vince Ready, members of the Health Sciences Association of B.C. charged Sunday that they are being goaded into a strike by the...