News & Updates

Sex Work and Human Trafficking An HSA Virtual Diversity Workshop HSA is pleased to offer this one-day virtual workshop facilitated by Kerry Porth and Alison Clancey from Living in Community. DATE: June 7, 2022 TIME: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm LOCATION: Virtual – WebEx details to follow Workshop Description: Curriculum for Change: Effectively Responding to the Needs of Sex Workers...

With HSA’s Annual Convention just over a month away, resolutions submitted by HSA chapters from around the province and reviewed and approved by the union’s Resolutions Committee are now available for review on the HSA website. Delegates elected to the in-person convention set for April 28-30 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver will receive a hard copy of the...

Date: May 26, 2022 Time: 9 am to 4:30 pm Location: HSA Office, 180 East Columbia Street, New Westminster Each year in Canada, one in five people will experience a mental health problem or illness. Over a lifetime that number increases to 1 in 3. The cost of mental health problems or illness costs our economy more than 51 billion...

Dates: May 9-10, 2022 Lo cation: HSA Office, 180 East Columbia Street, New Westminster Workshop participants will discuss: rights and responsibilities of safety stewards role of the Workers’ Compensation Board occupational health and safety regulations, policies and guidelines hazard identification incident investigations worksite inspections role of a steward/worker rep on the joint occupational health & safety committee violence in the...

Decolonization – Level 2 Communication and Land Acknowledgement An HSA Diversity Workshop HSA is pleased to offer one of two options for this workshop: DATES: Thursday, August 11, 2022 - Virtual via WebEx Tuesday, August 16, 2022 - In-person at HSA Office TIME: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm LOCATION: HSA Head Office – 180 East Columbia Street, New Westminster, BC...

The Community Social Services Bargaining Association is continuing to meet with the employers’ association. The Bargaining Committee is pushing to achieve the non-monetary priorities that members identified as important measures to address the challenges in the community social services sector. By the end of last week, the Committee had tabled all non-monetary topics and interests for consideration. In-depth discussions of...

The HSPBA Bargaining Committee has concluded the initial round of discussions with the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC), which began March 3. To date, the Committee has tabled language in three areas: Housekeeping and non-monetary language, including amendments that will address outdated and colonial language in the collective agreement; Occupational health and safety matters related to workload, discrimination and...

The series of atmospheric rivers that hit southwestern British Columbia in late November caused flooding and mudslides that affected the lives of many HSA members, with those living in Merritt and Princeton among the worst hit. HSA’s Board of Directors created a flood relief fund to assist members with immediate expenses caused by evacuations. We spoke to a few members...

By Lisa Daechsel, HSA member “I don’t want to be strapped to the bed” “I’m scared of loud noises” “I hate needles” “There is no way my child can lay still for that long” These are just some of the things that I hear from children and families regarding MRI imaging. For many children and families, the MRI experience can...

The Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC) tabled their initial wage proposal for the Community Health agreement, and we are deeply disappointed. We need a significant investment in front-line workers to address the staffing crisis in community health and we won’t accept anything less. We expect challenging monetary negotiations, but the last weeks of bargaining have shown us that when...