News & Updates

With the exception of some portions of the collective agreement ratified March 6, all provisions of the HSPBA collective agreement come into force and effect today, April 5, 2013. There are some exceptions, as specified in negotiations, as follows: Wages A wage increase of 2 per cent for all members, excluding pharmacists, will be implemented. This increase is effective the...

The 2012-2014 HSPBA collective agreement includes a new $225,000 Professional Development Fund for use by all HSPBA members, including HSA members, over the term of the collective agreement. To maximize the number of members eligible to apply for the funding, there will be two deadlines: One for courses commenced between April 1, 2013 and September 30, 2013 and another for...

THE REPORT: APRIL 2013 BY REID JOHNSON PRESIDENT, HSA As The Report magazine went to press, our community social service members were just voting on their tentative agreement. But for most members, another hard round of bargaining has come to an end. I'm proud of the new agreements. Are they perfect? No. But in this bargaining climate, with the government...

THE REPORT: APRIL 2013 BY LAURA BUSHEIKIN Registered psychiatric nurse Danielle Garden is a woman with a mission: making life better for psychiatric patients. This goal shapes everything she does — her interactions with patients, her relationships with co-workers and supervisors, her career choices, and her union involvement. Two years ago, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychiatric nursing...

THE REPORT: APRIL 2013 "I simply can't contemplate another four years of cutbacks and the impact that would have on my community," says Region 1 Director Anne Davis. Davis is one of several HSA members receiving support from HSA's political action fund to work full-time on a provincial election campaign. "I'm helping to elect Kassandra Dycke in Comox Valley. I...

HSA members in Region 5 have re-elected Kimball Finigan to serve a fourth term as their representative on the union’s Board of Directors. Finigan is a radiation therapist at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver. Finigan first joined the union’s board of directors in 2007. He has served on the Finance and Resolutions Committee, as well as the Constitutional and...

HSA members are urged to vote in the provincial election. The outcome of this election will have a profound effect on the health care and community services our members provide, as well as other public services that our families, friends and communities rely on. Eligible voters may vote on the general voting day: May 14, 2013. Right to time off...

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, celebrated every year on March 21, was established to commemorate the day in 1960 when police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid "pass laws" in Sharpeville, South Africa. Proclaiming the Day in 1966, the United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to...

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is concerned that the federal government is missing an opportunity to respond to Canada's underlying economic problems by continuing its hands-off, short-term approach in its 2013 budget released today. See full story at the NUPGE website here.

Following the March 6, 2013 ratification of the HSPBA collective agreement, a wage increase of 2 per cent for all members, excluding pharmacists, will be implemented. This increase is effective the first pay period following ratification, which is the pay period of March 15 to 28. Members are currently receiving pay stubs for the pay period of March 1 to...