News & Updates

EB02-29 OH&S stewards who wish to take a basic occupational health and safety course are encouraged to consider taking one of the following courses: HSA's basic OH&S steward course. This two-day course will be offered at HSA's Vancouver office on January 20 and 21, 2003 and February 17 and 18, 2003. HSA pays the costs of attending this course, including...

A coalition of social groups announced in Ottawa today that they will be taking the Chrétien government to court for its failure to comply with the Canada Health Act due to federal inaction in defending Canada's public health care system The Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions...

Medicare advocates are calling on the BC government and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to hold immediate public hearings into their scheme to privatize the financing and operation of a new ambulatory care centre at Vancouver General Hospital. The BC Health Coalition is also challenging the health authority to release its business case for the $90 million public-private partnership so...

A joint release from the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, the B.C. Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Hospital Employees' Union (CUPE), and the Health Sciences Association. The women and men who care for society's most vulnerable citizens are urging the government's new trustee in the community social services sector to implement their outstanding wage increase...

The Report: September / October 2002 vol.23 num.4 by DAN KEETON t seemed like the realization of a dream when physiotherapist Deanna Riedstra moved to the Okanagan with her husband and two young children less than a year ago. But, thanks to Gordon Campbells government, that dream has started to look more like a nightmare. Deanna Riedstra Physiotherapist Riedstra left...

The Report: September / October 2002 vol.23 num.4 by RON OHMART he Liberal government has been running a television advertising campaign on health care for the past month. In one of the ads, you see a doctor going into an empty operating room. It’s not a reassuring image, because you can’t see a patient on the table, there are no...

The Report: September / October 2002 vol.23 num.4 by RITU MAHIL My supervisor is constantly on my case. I feel threatened, intimidated and harassed. Is there anything under the collective agreement to protect me from this treatment? Article 39 of the agreement provides that employees have a right to work in an environment free from harassment. In a situation where...

The Report: September / October 2002 vol.23 num.4 by LOIS DICK ay you live in interesting times" has traditionally been considered a curse; if we didnt understand why, we do now! Since the 1970s, health care in British Columbia has undergone constant budgetary cutbacks and continual restructuring ... and we are not done yet! Here in the North we have...

The Report: September / October 2002 vol.23 num.4 by CINDY STEWART eptember is always a month of renewal. After a summer with friends and family we’re re-energized to take on another year of challenges. And we will not lack for challenges facing us in the coming year. Fortunately, it has been my experience that HSA members are always there when...

The Report: September / October 2002 vol.23 num.4 by CAROL RIVIERE with YUKIE KURAHASHI early three-quarters of community social services workers experienced a violent incident at their workplaces in the past year. Thats part of the findings of an eye-opening survey of social service workers in BC. HSA Steward Angela Nguyen, a womens counsellor at Victoria Transition House, said she...