News & Updates

Vancouver Sun By Vaughan Palmer The B.C. Liberals are celebrating the success to date of their "net zero mandate" for contract negotiation as a growing number of public sector unions are settling for two-year deals at no additional cost to the taxpayer. The hold-the-line mandate looked suspect when it was announced last September. The Liberals were drawing the line when...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 ITS BEEN ALMOST A YEAR SINCE THE BC GOVERNMENT WON AN ELECTION PROMISING TO PROTECT HEALTH CARE. INSTEAD, THEY MADE $360 MILLION IN CUTS. HERE ARE JUST SOME OF THE CUTS ANNOUNCED TO DATE, AND THERE IS STILL MORE TO COME. MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS cut funding for Atlas Youth Supported Recovery in Terrace...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 BY CAROLE RIVIERE MORE THAN A THIRD of Canadian seniors receiving public pensions live on less than $11,000 a year: well below the poverty line. HSA member Brigid Kemp has first-hand knowledge about the hardship represented by this number and the urgent need for pension reform. She has worked for several years with the...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 BY CAROL RIVIERE DO BCS POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES HAVE ANY IDEA who HSA is and what we do? Will they weigh our concerns in balance with those of many other groups who vie for the attention and support of the MLAs who craft the laws we all live by? Thanks to a dedicated group of...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 BY LAURA BUSHEIKIN SHEILA KERR DIDNT NEED the services of a career counsellor to choose her professional path. In fact, she never even had time to wonder what she wanted to be when she grew up. At the age of 14, her life experience led her to a volunteer position at the Living Positive...

The Report: April 2010 vol.31 num.2 THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT has settled on a disturbingly ironic tone in recent announcements. It began a few months ago, on December 1, which marks World AIDS Day. While local and national governments around the world recognized this date by reaffirming their commitment to continue the fight against HIV and AIDS, BCs government chose this...

The Coalition to Build a Better BC will hold a rally April 10 to fight recent government cuts ... including cuts to arts and culture funding, seniors services, early childhood education and infant development, mental health and addictions services, supports for the disabled, and an array of social services. HSA is among the members of the Coalition, which includes groups...

HSA members who work in a supervisory role will have the opportunity to attend a one-day workshop in Vancouver at the HSA office. Monday, May 31, 2010 Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Supervisors have particular concerns and needs and sometimes feel -caught in the middle". One of the goals of the "Supervisors in the Union" workshop is to resolve apparent conflicts...

HSA members in Region 6 have elected Anita Bardal, a medical radiation technologist at St. Pauls Hospital, as their representative on the unions Board of Directors. The other candidates for election were James Lyons, a medical radiation technologist at Mount St. Joseph Hospital, and Mo Norton, a program support clerk at North Shore Community Health Services.Anita has been an HSA...

No new contractHSA has learned that members may be hearing rumours that a tentative collective agreement has been reached between the unions and employers in the community social services sector. -These are just rumours," said HSA President Reid Johnson. -Last fall, negotiations were undertaken, but the talks collapsed December 17. While there have been informal discussions, there is no bargaining...