Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide.

More than six million Canadians join billions of people in over 170 countries to stage events and projects to address local environmental issues. Nearly every school-aged child in Canada takes part in an Earth Day activity.

Environmental challenges abound as our daily actions pollute and degrade the fragile environment that humans and wildlife depend on to survive.

The 2010-2012 HSPBA collective agreement includes a Letter of Agreement ... Re: Professional Development Fund ... which provided for a $450,000 Professional Development Fund for use by all HSPBA members, including members represented by unions other than HSA, over the term of the collective agreement.

After the first round of applications last winter, the fund is not yet spent, and HSA members are again invited to apply for professional development funding for courses to be taken between April 1 and December 31, 2012.

Bargaining at the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association table continues to make slow but steady progress, HSPBA Chief Negotiator Jeanne Meyers reported today.

Like most public sector union contracts in the province, the agreement expired March 31, 2012.

-At the outset of bargaining, we said HSA is committed to the process, but that if we didnt see signs from employers that there was an appetite for meaningful discussion about contract issues important to health science professionals, we would not have a lot of patience for the process," Meyers said.

The Health Sciences Association of BC  has joined more than 180 organizations in endorsing the Canadian Health Coalitions -Call to Care", to secure the future of Medicare.  The CHC statement outlines a vision and a list of principles to build a better public health care system that works for everyone.  

The federal government has recently announced that it intends to cut funding to the provinces for health care, and to abdicate its responsibility to ensure that the principles of the Canada Health Act are upheld across the country.  

During April, the Not Myself Today campaign intends to mobilize all Canadians in a movement to transform the way we think about, act towards and support mental health.

Ottawa (10 April 2012) ... The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is joining a broad range of organizations to support the Not Myself Today campaign initiated by the newly-formed Partners for Mental Health. On hand for the campaign launch was NUPGE National President James Clancy and Vice-President (Ontario) Nancy Pridham.

The North CentralLabour Council, is offering a workshop on Drug and Alcohol Absenteeism,Saturday May 12, 2012 from 9:30 am ... 2:00 pm (lunch will be provided),at the United Steelworkers' office in Williams Lake, 124C North 2^nd,Avenue.

The workshop isdesigned for activists, stewards, and union representatives.

Q:  Im scheduled to work July 1, and not on July 2.  However, my employer says that I will not be getting paid at the -statutory holiday" rate for work on July 1.  Is this right?

A:  This year, July 1 falls on a Sunday.  According to the federal Holidays Act, this means the legal statutory holiday is July 2.  For 2012, members working July 2 will receive stat pay ... not those working July 1.

The East Kootenay and District Labour Council is holding a one-day education session Saturday April 28. The workshops include "Stress in the Workplace," "Pensions," and "Young Worker Education."

For more information and registration:

Workshop Information

The elected bargaining committee for the Nurses Bargaining Association has completed two more weeks of negotiations with the Health Employers Association of BC (March 19-30), with discussions focusing on four issues:

1. Responsive Shift Scheduling:

Discussion with employers about how to improve shift scheduling to respond to employees needs when scheduling shifts.

2. Alternative Dispute Resolution Process (ADR):

The Community Bargaining Association (CBA) met again last week in Vancouver and exchanged and discussed proposals for three days with the Health Employers Association of British Columbia (HEABC).

The CBA tabled proposals related to health and welfare benefits including a proposal for a Short Term Illness and Injury Plan. The CBA also tabled proposals on job postings while the employer tabled their own proposals on the vehicle allowance and job postings.

The proposals represent all the issues to be tabled by the unions, with the exception of monetary issues.