Applications are being invited from HSA members who work under the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) collective agreement for $550 awards to support professional development. The awards will be distributed province wide, with two awards available to members in each of the union’s 10 regions. Awards will be randomly selected.

Bargaining is underway for a new collective agreement between HSA and West Coast Medical Imaging (WCMI).

Union bargaining committee members Gary Finnerty and Fran Wagner from the Lower Mainland and Lee McKellar and Jenn Frost from Victoria, along with HSA staff negotiators Dani Demetlika and Gurleen Sahota and labour relations specialist Jessica Magalios, got underway at the end of April and resumed yesterday, with two days of bargaining scheduled for this week, and another two days scheduled at the beginning of June.

Nurses covered by the Nurses Bargaining Association (NBA) contract, including the 900 Registered Psychiatric Nurses represented by HSA, have voted 85 per cent in favour of accepting a new collective agreement.

The new agreement features wage increases for all nurses, some changes to benefits coverage, and a number of contract changes that address staffing issues, education, and violence in the workplace.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The tentative agreement achieves eight of the 11 priorities HSA's RPNs set for bargaining, including:

Confronted with increasing demand for member services, support for stewards facing growing caseloads and the mounting cost of defending members against hostile raids by the BC Nurses, delegates to HSA’s 45th annual convention voted overwhelmingly in favour of a small dues increase, the first in 19 years.

HSA members in Region 8 have elected Kevin Towhey to serve a two-year term as their representative on the union’s Board of Directors.  Towhey is a medical radiation technologist at Royal Inland Hospital.

This is Towhey’s first term on the union’s Board of Directors. He currently serves as the Chief Steward at Royal Inland Hospital.

The other candidate for the board position was Cherylee Hale, a cardiology technologist at Kelowna General Hospital.

HSA members in Region 6 have elected Nancy Hay to serve a two-year term as their representative on the union’s Board of Directors.  Hay is a social worker at St. Paul’s and Lions Gate Hospitals.

This is Hay’s first term on the union’s Board of Directors. She currently serves as the Chief Steward at St. Paul’s Hospital.

The other candidate for the board position was Shirley Clarkson, a registered psychiatric nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital.

HSA members in Region 4 have re-elected Joseph Sebastian to serve another two-year term as their representative on the union’s Board of Directors.  Sebastian is a medical radiation technologist at Vancouver Hospital.

Sebastian first joined the union’s Board of Directors in April 2014. He has served on the Occupational Health and Safety and Constitutional and Organization Policy committees, and has served as a steward at Vancouver Hospital.

The other candidate for the board position was Sarah Chapple, a social worker at Vancouver Hospital.

HSA  members in Region 2 have re-elected Derrick Hoyt to serve another two-year term as their representative on the union’s Board of Directors.  Hoyt is a pathologist’s assistant at Royal Jubilee Hospital.

Hoyt first joined the union’s board of directors in November 2013. He has served on the Constitutional and Organizational Policy Committee (COPS) and Committee for Equality and Social Action and Elections Committee. He is a former Chief Steward at Royal Jubilee Hospital.

A summary of the tentative agreement 2014 – 2019 for the Nurses Bargaining Association, and instructions on how to vote on the agreement, will be mailed to all NBA members shortly.

Mail ballots must be returned to HSA by the end of the day on Friday, May 6.

Following last week’s signing of a tentative agreement for a renewed collective agreement for all nurses in BC’s public health care system, HSA will hold two telephone town hall meetings to provide members with information about the terms of the tentative agreement.