FAQs: 2025 - 2029 HSPBA Tentative Agreement

Going into this round of negotiations, the objective was to build on the wins of the last negotiations despite the provincial government’s significant and growing fiscal constraints. Specifically, members directed the union to seek improvements in wages, classifications, work-life balance, recognition and respect, and partnership in quality health care. These priorities were set by elected delegates at the bargaining proposal conference in the fall of 2024.

All members will see a wage increase of 12% over the term of the agreement:

• Year 1: 3% general wage increase (GWI) effective the first pay period after April 1, 2025 
• Year 2: 3% GWI effective the first pay period after April 1, 2026 
• Year 3: 3% GWI effective the first pay period after April 1, 2027 
• Year 4: 3% GWI effective the first pay period after April 1, 2028

Compounded over the term of the agreement, this is an increase of approximately 12.55%. 

The 2025 wage increase is effective the first pay period after April 1, 2025 and will be paid retroactively. The 2026 wage increase will be paid the first pay period after April 1, 2026.

If you want to see how this agreement will affect your wages, please visit the wage calculator.

Yes, the first pay raise of this proposed agreement is dated the first pay period after April 1, 2025.

This is entirely under the control of the employer, and in the last round, there were significant delays. The employer has made changes arising from these lessons, and the union will certainly advocate for retro pay to be issued as quickly as possible. 

The improvements to pay take effect retroactively, on the first pay period after April 1, 2025. Most other improvements of this collective agreement take place either at ratification or on the first pay period after April 1, 2026. A few of the improvements do not take effect until 2027. 

These increases to the overall funding of the agreement were achieved thanks to members like you standing strong and voting to support job action last December.

When the bargaining committee returned to the bargaining table in early 2026, the employer and government were aware of the strong strike mandate. This additional funding puts us on even playing field with other public sector unions in BC who have reached agreement with their employer. These funds will be used for improvements to classifications, premiums, special leave, isolation allowance, portability, professional education, and more. 

The specifics of this funding are:

• Year 1: 0.5% working conditions and service improvement funding 
• Year 2: 0.2% flex allocation funding and 0.3% working conditions and service improvement funding 
• Year 3: 0.5% working conditions and service improvement funding 
• Year 4: 0.2% flex allocation funding and 0.3% working conditions and service improvement funding 

These are not General Wage Increases (GWI), but annual investments, which have been utilized for other improvements under the collective agreement. 

As part of the government’s significantly restrictive mandate in this round, all public sector unions have been granted the same provisions for the “me too” clause – provisions which apply only to the general wage increase. 

That means if any other union achieves a higher GWI, you get it too. But it doesn’t apply to anything over and above GWI. And it’s the same for all unions.

As part of the government’s significantly restrictive mandate in this round, all public sector unions have been granted the same provisions for the “me too” clause – provisions which apply only to the general wage increase. 

That means if any other union achieves a higher GWI, you get it too. But it doesn’t apply to anything over and above GWI. And it’s the same for all unions.

We are very happy to have achieved meaningful increases to key shift premiums in the collective agreement. While we did not introduce new premiums in this round of bargaining, we were able to obtain increases, particularly for the evening shift, which was a top priority for our members. 

• Evening shift: increase from $0.70/hour to $2.00/hour
• Night shift: increase from $3.50/hour to $5.50/hour
• Weekend: increase from $2.30/hour to $3.50/hour

Members are not entitled to reimbursement for their 2026 professional fees. The funding expired at the end of the 2022 – 2025 collective agreement. However, effective January 1, 2027 the process will become more efficient. A member can simply submit their receipt directly to their employer for reimbursement where the employer requires them to be licensed with a provincial regulatory college. 

Additionally, the fee eligibility has been expanded to members in professions joining regulated bodies over the course of the agreement. They may also submit their regulated professional fee costs after the transition to the regulated body takes place. 

The April1, 2027 implementation date will capture members in new regulatory bodies that have taken place between the expiry of the collective agreement date and ratification.

Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists, radiation therapists, and medical laboratory technologists that join a regulatory body in 2027 will be eligible for fee reimbursement after April 1, 2028. 

The employer will reimburse members for the cost of that license/registration renewal fee if they are a regular employee on the date of renewal, or a casual who has worked 780 straight time hours in the 365 days preceding the renewal date. 

No, reimbursement is not pro-rated for part-time or casual employees.

Members who are required to be registered by a regulatory body are covered by the professional fees terms as described above. However, some members are required to be part of a non-regulatory body. If that’s the case, the collective agreement already requires the employer to reimburse you for these fees. 

While a working short premium seems like a good idea on the surface, it is the employer’s responsibility to manage workload and fill vacancies. A premium reduces the pressure on the employer to address retention and recruitment issues. A working short premium has also proven to be difficult to administer, resulting in many pay errors, and because of this has been removed from other collective agreements. Instead of a premium, the bargaining committee focused on investing those monies into short and long-term solutions for retention and recruitment such as continuation of the Provincial Healthcare Recruitment and Retention Working Group and the new agreement to address the practice of contracting in/out. 

If you are working short on a regular basis, please notify your labour relations officer and utilize the workload dialogue in the collective agreement. Don’t forget you also have protections under the Worker’s Compensation Act and have the Right to Refuse Unsafe Work. For more information on the process click here.

A qualification differential (QD) of $125 per month was negotiated for P1 social workers and P1 disciplines allied to social work who hold a master’s degrees that is used in the normal course of their duties, for example: 

• Master of Social Work
• Master of Clinical Counselling
• Master of Counselling Psychology
• Master of Educational Psychology
• Or any other master’s degree that they use in the normal course of their job duties

The QD is paid on a pro-rated hourly basis every pay period (not monthly) to full-time and part-time regular P1 employees.

While a master’s degree is not required for all P1 jobs in social work and disciplines allied to social work, this money is intended to recognize the additional education, training, and expertise that these members have. 

This provision comes in to effect the first pay period after April 1, 2027. 

A qualification differential (QD) of $250 per month was negotiated for P1 clinical pharmacists and P1 clinical oncology pharmacists, effective the first pay period after April 1, 2026. 

Your union continues to believe that the work of clinical and clinical oncology pharmacists meets the criteria for “special procedures/techniques” and should be compensated at the P2A rate and not the P1 rate. You can read more about this here: https://hsabc.org/node/12057 

HSA continues to move forward with its claim to add the specialized work of clinical pharmacist and clinical oncology pharmacist to the P2A profile.

To qualify to receive this QD, you must be in a position that requires completion of the Year 1 residency or equivalent.

The QD is paid on a pro-rated hourly basis every pay period (not monthly) to full-time and part-time regular P1 employees.

Green-circled members will receive the 3% per year General Wage Increase of the proposed collective agreement. Green-circled members do not receive other classification-related wage increases negotiated as part of this tentative agreement (e.g. increases to P2A, P2B(S), S1A, S2A rates, and the wage schedule change for radiological technologists and nuclear medicine technologists).  

Some green-circled members will have their green circling end during the four years of this proposed agreement, as their pay rate in the wage schedule for their job will meet or surpass their adjusted green-circled rate. 

The ending of a member’s green circling status could occur for one or both of the following reasons: the member was at less than the top step increment rate; or there has been an adjustment to the rate of their classification profile.

Whether an employer is sending work out of the facility to be performed by a non-unionized organization, or bringing in non-unionized contracted workers, it is a very big concern for the union. It takes attention and funding away from recruitment and retention. In this round of bargaining, we successfully negotiated a commitment from the employer to end this practice over time. Instead of using the short-term solution of contracted services, there will be a collaboration between the union and employer to stop this practice. While the parties work towards this goal, the employer must provide detailed information of when and where contracting in/out is taking place and pay dues on these services. 

Since collective bargaining in 2012 – 2014, HSPBA members have had their benefits administered through the Joint Health Science Benefits Trust (JHSBT). The union and employer trustees of the JHSBT manage extended benefits available to HSPBA members. As a result, benefits are no longer negotiated through bargaining. This allows the employer and the union to change and improve benefits between collective agreement. Outside of this bargaining process, the Employer and Union have agreed to conduct annual reviews of your benefits and funding to protect the value of the benefits package.

Members are entitled to take time off under Article 20 of the collective agreement when they meet specific criteria. The number of hours that members may take under the following areas have been increased:

• Leave for members to attend childbirth or adoption of a child increases from 15 to 37.5 hours effective April 1, 2027
• Leave to care for an immediate family member with a serious illness increases from 15 to 37.5 hours per occurrence effective April 1, 2027 
• Leave for absences resulting from the employee or employee’s dependent child having experienced domestic or sexual violence increases from 22.5 to 27.5 hours
• Leave that may be added to bereavement leave under article 15 increases 7. 5 to 15 hours. Combined with the provisions of bereavement leave members can take a total of 37.5 hours effective April 1, 2026 

It is mandatory for the employer to release you if you meet the criteria in the collective agreement. If you are having difficulty, a grievance may be required. Reach out to your local steward to discuss further. 

The folllowing communities have been added:

• Bella Coola
• Blue River
• Edgewood
• Elk Valley
• Kaslo
• Lillooet
• qathet   

Regular employees who work in community-based settings and are required to work at multiple locations are eligible for $15 per month. This includes worksites such as home support, home health, long-term care case management, population and public health, primary care, community mental health and child development programs and centres. This nominal amount creates a floor that can be expanded upon for increases in the next round of negotiations.

With an increase of 1.8 FTE to 7.0 FTE for HSA, the union will be consulting with members, stewards, and labour relations staff on the best allocation for this increase of member servicing capacity. One of the steward positions is designated for the other unions with members covered by the HSPBA collective agreement.

While having committed time for some stewards to have regular scheduled steward time, all stewards are entitled to employer paid time to perform their duties under Article 5.09. This includes time to attend meetings with management regarding labour relations, attended labour management meetings, accompany an employee to a meeting where disciplinary action is anticipated, provide orientation to new employees, and supervise ballot boxes related to ratification votes. 

Yes, there are some significant improvements. Members prioritized flexibility in scheduling as a key priority in this round of bargaining. Increased flexibility in scheduling can improve work-life balance and positively impact your work and home life. Some of these improvements include requiring the employer to provide clear and detailed operational requirements, invite a proposal from the affected employees with a clear and sufficient 28-day timeframe to submit, assistance from the union in conducting a vote, and a 14-day requirement to release the vote results.

Jobs can now be shared among more than two members, and members can job share more than one position. For example, under the new language three members could agree to job share two full-time positions. Casuals are also able to participate in job share with these changes. 

The employer is still required to give at least 14 days' notice for a change in your schedule. If they do not provide this notice, they are required to pay the applicable overtime rate for the entirety of the next worked shift. Under the new agreement an employer and member can mutually agree to waive this notice. However, it’s important that is voluntary on the part of the worker. 

With the introduction of this new language, employees no longer require supervisor or manager approval to swap shifts provided that they are both qualified and oriented to the unit/department/program, are capable of performing the specific duties of the shifts, and provide at least 7 calendars days, but no more than 90 days' notice. 

Complete the member contact form at Health Sciences Association | Member Contact Update Form

Voting will open Friday, March 6 at 12 noon (Pacific time) and will close on Thursday, March 12 at 12 noon (Pacific time). 

All members will sent voting credentials via email on the day the voting begins. The email with your voting credentials came from Simply Voting, not HSA. Your voting credentials email will include your member ID and a link to access your ballot directly.

If you do not receive your credential, please email @email from your personal email as soon as possible with your full name and worksite. 

You can update your contact information in advance by completing the member contact form at Health Sciences Association | Member Contact Update Form

The ratification vote is like any other democratic vote at the municipal, provincial or federal level in Canada. The results are determined by the people who show up to vote, and there is no minimum threshold.

HSA member engagement in votes ranges widely across different issues -- from 10-20% for director and presidential elections, to 70% in the recent strike vote, with 55% of HSPBA members voting in the 2022 ratification vote.

The minimum yes vote is 50% plus one.

Prior to the December strike vote, health science professionals were being offered significantly less funding than other unions in BC.

By taking this strike vote back to the table, the union was able to convince the government that we had to be treated equally and provided with terms similar to those provided to BCGEU, HEU and others. That was achieved, and other unions have since achieved equal footing by these means. But the government has been clear that this new, equal treatment is final, and under the rules governing public sector bargaining, any arbitration would look to these other public sector agreements to ensure parity. There is simply no way to leapfrog over this. 

Air Canada flight attendants, on the other hand, are in the private sector, and different rules apply there. When their strike action resulted in arbitration, the ruling looked at comparable private sector settlements for guidance. These settlements are different from public sector ones, and would not be considered in ruling on our wages. 

If we do not ratify this tentative agreement, we might also be forced to accept a worse one. It is unlikely that we could negotiate a better agreement, as we already received increased funding to the as a result of your positive strike vote.  

The significant gains in this tentative agreement, gains achieved despite the government’s restrictive mandates, could be lost if members reject this agreement. 

The fiscal challenges overtaking this government means any subsequent deal would certainly be no better, and might be worse. 

The bargaining committee and your Board of Directors believe the proposed agreement is the best deal possible and is recommending that members vote yes to accept the tentative agreement. The bargaining committee worked very hard to achieve increases and changes to the agreement based on the priorities set by the membership in accordance within the terms of the bargaining under which we secured the additional funding for improved working conditions and service improvements. This includes a commitment to seek to eliminate contracting in/out. 

If members vote to reject this tentative agreement, any new agreement reached would be no better, and possibly worse. 

A year’s worth of negotiations would have to begin all over again. We have currently been offered extra funding that allows this tentative agreement to provide significant gains on classifications, premiums, professional development, professional fees, protection of benefits and much more – that funding offer is time sensitive, and with the growing fiscal challenges faced by the government, is not secured until the tentative agreement is ratified. 

Going on strike does not guarantee a better agreement. The result might be quite the opposite, given the circumstances under which we would be negotiating.

Even if an arbitration results from job action – and the government would have to agree to this – the test the arbitrator would apply is to ask what deal the parties could have reasonable bargained, which would lead them back to the terms of this tentative agreement and the similar terms offered to BCGEU, FBA and other public sector unions. The arbitrator would not look to private sector deals because those are not comparable to public sector bargaining. That road leads back to the terms on offer here. 

Although it would be a draconian response by the provincial government, many members will remember that HSA experienced the imposition of a contract with inferior terms in 2001.

The new language under Article 38.02 of the Collective Agreement aligns the collective agreement with the Worker’s Compensation Act in two sections.

The first is in terms of requiring a worker health and safety representative for those worksites with more than 9 but fewer than 20 workers. This will ensure that smaller and rural sites have adequate coverage to facilitate support of an effective Occupational Health and Safety program.

The second section outlines the duties and functions of a Joint Health and Safety Committee member, which extends to:

• Identifying unhealthy and unsafe conditions of work and advising on potential solutions
• Participating in inspections and investigations
• Making recommendations to the Employer and requiring a written response from the Employer within 21 days of steps taken to rectify safety concerns.

Article 38.03 contains new language, ensuring that young and new workers are provided with worksite specific health and safety orientation in accordance with Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. 

A 2-year pilot project has been proposed to establish a Regional OHS Committee at each Health Authority. The proposed structure will consolidate existing regional specialized committees such as those currently set up for Psychological Health and Safety and Violence Prevention. The Regional OHS Committee will work collaboratively to provide guidance and recommendations on:

• Employer wide policies and procedures involving physical or psychological health and safety issues or hazards.
• Corrective actions to address emerging themes and trends in incidents.
• Risk Assessment completion

CSA Standard Z1003 is the Canadian national standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the workplace. The standard strives to help organizations identify, evaluate, and investigate psychological injuries and hazards using a systematic approach.

The CSA Standard also identifies 13 key factors that affect Psychological Health and Safety in the workplace. These factors have now been listed under Article 38.10 and are also listed below:

1. Organizational Culture 
2. Psychological and Social Support 
3. Clear Leadership and Expectations 
4. Civility and Respect 
5. Psychological Demands 
6. Growth and Development 
7. Recognition and Reward 
8. Involvement and Influence 
9. Workload Management 
10. Engagement 
11. Balance 
12. Psychological Protection 
13. Protection of Physical Safety