The Report

The Report: July / August 2001 vol.22 num.3by BRUCE WILKINS What are -essential service" staffing levels? I have always considered the job I do to be essential to the public. Why was my work not included in the -essential service" designations set by the labour board? Recently the threat of strike action has sent the whole health labour relations sector...

The Report: July / August 2001 vol.22 num.3 by DAN KEETON Shari Shabits Speech/Language Pathologist North Okanagan Neurological Association If you were to describe HSA member Shari Shabits as a person with a mission, you wouldnt be far off the mark. The Vernon speech language pathologist and HSA assistant steward is waging a personal effort to reduce waiting lists for...

The Report: July / August 2001 vol.22 num.3 HSA members at the Paramedical Professional Bargaining Table and the Nursing Bargaining Table have been legislated back to work – but the fight is far from over. HSA President Cindy Stewart, speaking on behalf of the health science professionals covered by the Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association contract, said it best at a...

The Report: July / August 2001 vol.22 num.3 HSA’s 30th annual convention held April 6 and 7 celebrated the contributions members continue to make every day to the health of their communities. Almost 300 delegates from around the province were on hand for debates around resolutions on diverse issues. Delegates also strengthened networks to tackle the work to be done...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by MIRIAM SOBRINO Bargaining for a new collective agreement for 14,000 health science professionals is off to a slow start, with the Health Employers Association of BC clearly reluctant to make any real moves to facilitate negotiations. In the last week of March, the unions tabled a wage demand, calling for a...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by DAN KEETON H SA members at Vernon Jubilee hospital knew they were being seriously overworked. Now, after initiating a survey of members at the facility, they have proof. The chapter at the Okanagan hospital is also a bit of a Cinderella story. It now has several active stewards and regular union-management...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by ANITA BLOY and SALLY HALLIDAY Chances are, many of you know somebody in your personal or professional life who is the victim of spousal violence. An astounding fifty one per cent of Canadian women have been or are victims of physical or sexual abuse. Violence against women in intimate relationships touches...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by CINDY STEWART With a throne speech and budget that spelled out a commitment to health care, the NDP government set the stage last month for an election campaign with a strong commitment to health care. The timing couldn’t be better – for HSA members and for all British Columbians. The four...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by CHERYL GREENHALGH In 1993, as a newly elected board member, I never imagined how far my activism would extend or how much that commitment would come to mean to me. As I now prepare to leave HSAs Board of Directors, I cant help but look back on the many years of...

The Report: April / May 2001 vol.22 num.2 by MAUREEN WHELAN The more things change, the more they remain the same. Thirty years ago, health science professionals felt they were losing out in respect of the wages they were paid. Their reference points were the relative wages paid to other health care workers, and the rising cost of living that...