Menu

News & Updates

Subscribe to News & Updates

Health Sciences Association opens 41st annual convention

April 20, 2012
Members of the Health Sciences Association, the union delivering modern health care that represents health sciences professionals who deliver diagnosis, treatment and recovery in BCs hospitals and communities, is meeting this weekend at its 41st annual convention in Vancouver. Over the course of the next two days members will be debating a number of resolutions as the union adds to and enhances the agenda it has built over the past four decades.

Vote for HSA member nominated for YWCA Women of Distinction Award

April 16, 2012
Long-time HSA activist Rachel Tutte has been nominated for a Women of Distinction Award in the Metro Vancouver YWCAs 2012 awards competition.  Recognized nationally as one of Canadas most prestigious awards for women, the Women of Distinction Awards honour women whose outstanding achievements contribute to the well-being and future of our community.

Earth Day: working together for change

April 13, 2012
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.

Lower Mainland lab services consolidation: an update

April 13, 2012
HSA continues to advocate on behalf of Lower Mainland laboratory technologists affected by the employers plans to consolidate services under one health authority. HSA met with the employer in a Section 54 meeting last Thursday, April 4. The employer has advised that they intend to transfer employment of all lab technologists to the Provincial Health Services Authority in the fall of 2012. However, the employer has not provided any information on plans for the transfer.

Williams Lake: North Central Labour Council Workshop May 12

April 12, 2012
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 2nd,Avenue. The workshop isdesigned for activists, stewards, and union representatives.

National Union endorses April's Not Myself Campaign to support mental health

April 12, 2012
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.

HSA signs Canadian Health Coalitions -Call to Care"

April 12, 2012
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.  

Health science professionals contract discussions continue

April 12, 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.

Second round of professional development funding applications now being accepted for health science professionals in HSA

April 12, 2012
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.

Holidays Act Q&A: employees working July 2, 2012 get stat pay

April 11, 2012
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.