News & Updates

The Report: August 2003 vol.24 num.4 by BRUCE WILKINS I have heard that our rights around the 7.5 hour day have changed. Have they changed, and what does it mean for me? An arbitration decision in June 2003 has indeed changed the union’s collective agreement rights under Appendix 7 of the 2001-2004 Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association contract (related to Article...

The Report: August 2003 vol.24 num.4 by BONNIE PHILLIPS recently visited the Canadian Blood Services with the goal of investigating the current state of affairs with the pending closure of the testing laboratory, originally slated for April 2004 but recently moved forward to September 2003. As region 5s elected representative on HSAs board of directors, I felt I needed to...

The Report: August 2003 vol.24 num.4 by RON OHMART n the months leading up to the expiry of several collective agreements in the public sector, its time to begin to turn our attention to HSAs approach to bargaining. We are already heading into uncharted territory as the preliminary work gets underway in the community social services sector. In May, the...

The Report: August 2003 vol.24 num.4 by CINDY STEWART C NDP leader Joy MacPhail announced early in June that she will not be seeking the leadership of the party at the convention this coming November. In making her announcement, she said that in the two years since the Liberal government’s landslide victory, her party has not only survived but is...

The Report: August 2003 vol.24 num.4 by CAROLE PEARSON n El Salvador, health care workers, including doctors, have been on strike for nine months to protest government efforts to privatize the countrys health system. Salvadoran President Francisco Flores and the ruling National Republican Alliance (ARENA) party claim privatizing the health system will bring health care -to each according to the...

The Report: August 2003 vol.24 num.4 he Competition Bureau of Canada has agreed to investigate a complaint filed against the pricing practices of major drug companies. Initiated by the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) in co-operation with a coalition of unions, seniors groups and consumer watchdogs, the complaint alleges anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry. “This is...

A move by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to privatize thousands of surgical procedures has staggering implications for public health care, says a medicare advocacy organization.And the BC Health Coalition is calling on Health Services Minister Colin Hansen to order a stop to the health authority's plans to contract out publicly insured surgeries and hold public hearings on the government's...

The Report: June / July 2003 vol.24 num.3 by DAN KEETON Perhaps it was all those lonely hours staring through a microscope – something laboratory technologist Heather Sapergia enjoys, although she also seeks out human interaction. Or maybe it’s due to her belief that if you want something changed, you must get inside of it and change it yourself. Heather...

The Report: June / July 2003 vol.24 num.3 by RITU MAHIL Are union stewards entitled to their full regular salary when they perform steward duties during work time? Yes. Article 5.09 of the collective agreement provides that “Union stewards shall be allowed reasonable time while on duty without loss of salary consistent with the operational requirements of the employer to...

The Report: June / July 2003 vol.24 num.3 by JENNY ROBERTSON hange has become an old friend in Region 4, and probably also in yours, ever since the federal Liberals first slashed provincial transfer payments. Now we can blame even more change on the BC Liberals as they take us in overnight legislative sessions to places where we thought wed...