News & Updates

A National Survey on Domestic Violence The findings are shocking – one third of the respondents to a recent survey reported experiencing domestic violence at the hands of an intimate partner. More than half of those reporting abuse said that at least one type of abusive act occurred at or near their workplace. The most common types of abuse that...

With time running down for the raid season, BCNU has lost another attempt to take registered psychiatric nurses out of HSA. The BCNU had tried to move members at Mission Memorial Hospital out of HSA but the Labour Board today confirmed they did not have the support of the RPNs as the vote was in favour of HSA. Earlier this...

Stewards play a vital role in the union. Particularly important is the steward's role in contract interpretation, organizing and the grievance procedure. In recognition of the need for educating new stewards in these areas, HSA is offering four 3-day Basic Steward Training workshops at the HSA office as follows - Dates:January 19 – 21, 2015February 2 – 4, 2015February 16...

HSA is offering scholarships and bursaries to all members and their children. Ten scholarships will be awarded for full-time studies, twenty bursaries for full-time studies and four bursaries for part-time studies. Two aboriginal scholarships will be awarded to aboriginal students in BC. The criteria and details are set out on the application forms available on the HSA website. Completed application...

HSA REPORT, DECEMBER 2014 Name: Alka Kundi. Nickname in high school: Well, my name is Alka, so the nicknames should be obvious. Alkaseltzer, Alcoholic and Alkatraz. In retrospect, I'm not sure if these were nicknames or if people were just making fun of me, but oh well. Job title and department: Labour Relations Officer, Servicing. What you actually do, in...

HSA REPORT, DECEMBER 2014 By David Durning, HSA Senior OHS Officer Over the years, Canadian workers have fought for and gained important workplace health and safety rights. The diligent exercise of these rights is proven to be the most effective way of ensuring workplace hazards are controlled. These rights, enshrined in legislation and regulation, are: the right to know about...

Delegates to the 56th convention of the BC Federation of Labour have elected Irene Lanzinger as President. She is the first woman to ever hold the position. Lanzinger was the Federation's secretary-treasurer for the past four years and is a past president of the BC Teachers' Federation. She is a high school math and science teacher in Vancouver. Aaron Ekman...

Effective December 1, British Columbia will be in flu season, and HSA members who work in patient care areas in hospitals (ie, where patients are or are likely to be present) are reminded to be vaccinated against influenza or, alternatively, wear a protective mask during flu season. As in previous years, health care workers who work in patient care areas...

HSA REPORT, DECEMBER 2014 Nu Lu was frustrated. As a physiotherapist at Vancouver General Hospital, she needed to get her patients up and moving. The rehabilitation she and her fellow physios provide is important – if it didn't get done, the patients didn't get to go home. But many of them were on short oxygen lines attached to the wall...

HSA REPORT, DECEMBER 2014 Professional recognition days, weeks and months come and go. Posters go up on bulletin boards, posts go up on social media sites. Maybe there’s cupcakes. It’s a great chance to educate and celebrate the work that makes our health care and community social service systems work, but it’s getting harder to break through the noise and...