Preparations for bargaining for a new Health Services and Support Community Collective Agreement will begin this month.

All chapters where HSA members are covered by this collective agreement will hold meetings before November 4, 2005 to set priorities for bargaining in 2006. Please contact your chief steward for information about your chapters bargaining proposal meeting.

With the Heath Services and Support Community contract set to expire March 31, 2006, planning is underway to prepare bargaining priorities to present at the bargaining table.

HSA stewards will be setting chapter meetings to be held by November 4, 2005 to discuss and develop bargaining proposals. All HSA members covered by the Health Services and Support Community collective agreement are urged to attend these chapter meetings. Your negotiating team needs your input.

Last night, teachers across the province voted overwhelmingly to take a stand against Bill 12, the Liberal act aimed at ending the limited job action undertaken by the B.C. Teachers Federation to put pressure on government to negotiate a collective agreement.

The legislation, which is still being debated in the Legislature, rolls over the current collective agreement to June 30, 2006. By then, teachers will have been working four-and-a-half years under imposed terms and conditions of employment.

Solidarity is more than making donations. Personal contact and relationships between people from the north and the south can be as important as money.

Are you interested in learning first hand about the projects HSA supports in Central America? Would you like to see for yourself the reality for the majority of the population in Central America? Are you ready for a life changing experience?

HSA President Cindy Stewart joined other union leaders at a rally in Vancouver to support HEU and BCGEU members who are on strike for a first collective agreement with Sodexho. The 1,100 workers have been on strike since Sept. 15. The majority of the dietary, cleaning and other support services workers are paid $10.15 per hour.

Members encouraged to get involved in upcoming municipal and federal elections

HSA and its members have become increasingly active politically. HSA members worked on the recent provincial election in unprecedented numbers. Many of these members attended one of the three campaign schools HSA offered during the past year. Feedback from these members emphasized the value of these campaign schools in preparing members to work on election campaigns.

Participate in the BC Conference
Friday evening, October 28 & Saturday, October 29

In celebration of their twentieth anniversary, CoDevelopment Canada is organizing a two day conference as part of the national Make Poverty History Campaign. The goals of the Canadian campaign are straightforward:

As you know, all workers have a right to a safe work environment. Surveys consistently indicate that HSA members care about and are willing to become involved in health and safety issues. Unions have a significant role to play ensuring that our workplaces are safe. HSA takes a leadership role in the promotion of workplace safety through health and safety education initiatives for our membership, such as the Prevention of Workplace Violence Workshop. We urge you to talk to other Stewards, OH&S Stewards and interested members to encourage them to attend this workshop together.

HSA is preparing for the next round of contract negotiations between the Nurses' Bargaining Association and the Health Employers Association of B.C. The current provincial collective agreement expires March 31, 2006.

All HSA registered psychiatric nurses will receive a questionnaire in the mail. The survey is designed to identify working conditions and members' bargaining priorities.

Direct employees of health authorities, including all HSA members, will have access to work in the event that HEU members in a first contract dispute with Sodexho erect picket lines. Each of the worksites affected has been designated locations where picketing is allowed, and access is guaranteed to ensure 100 per cent levels of service by direct employees of the health authorities.