HSA offers scholarships for Summer Institute for Union Women
July 2 – 6, 2019

University of British Columbia, Vancouver 

This week the Minister of Labour, Harry Bains, introduced two pieces of legislation that together dramatically increase protections for workers and their right to join a union.
 
These are long overdue reforms, and it is welcome news to see the government take these first steps to restoring balance and fairness for working people.  These reforms do not cover everything - this is only the start - and HSA will continue to advocate for more changes going forward.
 
Employment Standards Act
 

Registration Now Open! 
Tools and tips to Stomp Out Period Poverty 

The Health Sciences Association is proud to welcome 31 new health science professionals working at the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC division (CMHA BC), to HSA. Workers were fully united, voting 100 hundred percent in favour of joining HSA.

Last year, 131 B.C. workers died from a workplace injury or disease. When you lose a loved one, the pain never goes away.
 
Across Canada, April 28 has been designated the Day of Mourning. As workers, families, employers, and communities come together at ceremonies held around the province to remember those who have lost their lives to work-related incidents or occupational disease. It’s a day to renew our commitment to creating healthy and safe workplaces.
 

A once in a generation opportunity to improve workers' legislation. 

HSA is offering a 1 day, non-partisan election campaign school for members who are interested in getting more involved with the upcoming federal election.
 
With general voting day set for October 21, 2019, political campaigns are quickly gearing up and many important issues will start to shape the national conversation on who is best to lead our country.
 

Val Avery, a physiotherapist from Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, was re-elected Friday at HSA’s annual 2019 Convention for another two-year term.

“I have your backs. I am committed to working on your behalf, very diligently, day in and day out,” said Avery to delegates during her acceptance speech on April 5.  “We need to work together, and the more engaged members are in this union, the stronger we are going to be.”

Jas Giddha has been re-elected to serve a two-year term as a member of HSA’s Board of Directors, representing HSA members in Region 7 from several worksites, including Surrey Memorial, Peace Arch, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack Hospitals, and the Fraser Valley Centre for Child Development.

Giddha is a medical radiation technologist at Surrey Memorial and Peace Arch Hospital, and has been involved in the union since graduating from Thompson Rivers University and starting as a casual in 2012.

HSA members have elected Carla Gibbons to serve a two-year term on the union’s board of directors representing Region 5, which includes a number of worksites in the Lower Mainalnd, including BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital and the Vancouver Cancer Centre.

A cytotechnologist at the Vancouver Cancer Centre, Gibbons has been active in the union and began volunteering as a steward in 2016.