News & Updates

The 2019-2022 Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) Collective Agreement includes a provision (Article 60) that requires health authorities (HA) and Providence Health Care (PHC) to implement a direct patient care staffing assessment process. Implementation of this new contract language is intended to be a collaborative process, where local level managers and in-charge nurses determine immediate (short-term) staffing requirements. Over the last...

The “working short” premium, negotiated for nurses in the last round of bargaining, has been reworked in a deal between the BC Nurses Union and the employer to pay nurses a premium during the COVID-19 pandemic at least through to the end of April, if not longer. The working short premium was intended to be a penalty on employers who...

**UPDATED MARCH 30 4 PM: WORKSITE PREFERENCE WEBSITE REOPENS TONIGHT 6-10 PM FOR EMPLOYEES WHO WERE UNABLE TO REGISTER OVER WEEKEND** The Provincial Health Officer has ordered that movement between worksites by health care workers must be limited to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in the current pandemic. Over the weekend, thousands of employees were able to register their...

To: HSA members working in community social services From: HSA and Community Social Services Bargaining Associaton On March 26, 2020 the BC Government used their extraordinary powers under the Emergency Program Act, to issue ministerial orders to ensure a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic across all levels of government. These orders have direct implications for workers in the Community...

Starting the evening of March 26, Health Authority Employers have begun to survey employees about their child care needs starting next Monday, March 30. Check your employer email for details. To date, HSA is aware of processes in VIHA and PHSA. Contact your employer for details on how to register your child care needs. Provincial Medical Health Officer Dr. Bonnie...

TO: HSA members working in Long Term Care In an effort to slow the transmission of COVID-19 in BC’s hard-hit Long Term Care facilities, BC’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, issued two province-wide orders aimed at restricting movement of health care staff between Long Term Care facilities. The orders went into effect yesterday, Thursday March 26, 2020 The first...

Amidst the worldwide uncertainty about what is coming at us in the coming days and weeks, HSA is pleased to share with HSA members working in BC's community social services sector that the provincial government has committed to continue funding programs. CSSEA reported late this afternoon on its website that the government has reinforced its funding commitment to the social...

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) and Health Sciences Association of BC (HSA) released today a research paper focused on respiratory protection for health workers caring for COVID-19 patients. “Health care workers around the world are reporting that personal protective equipment guidelines are inconsistent and in short supply. As this pandemic hits our health care system in...

By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications Angie Combs, aboriginal patient liaison worker at Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, BC, recalls that staff at the hospital would occasionally ask her to teach them some words and phrases in Gitxsanimaax, the language spoken by the Gitxsan First Nation. The hospital is on Gitxsan territory, which spans 33,000 square kilometers across northwest BC. “I...

HSA’s annual convention, slated for April 1 – 3, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver, has been postponed indefinitely. The decision to postpone was made last night on an emergency conference call meeting of the union’s Board of Directors. The union has weighed the risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic to the more than 400 delegates registered to...