VANCOUVER—Bargaining for a new collective agreement for BC’s 18,000 health science professionals working in hospitals and communities throughout the province got underway this week as bargaining representatives for the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC) began contract negotiations today.
The union negotiators will focus on achieving a collective agreement that helps address years of erosion in the health care system.
“We’ve received a strong message from our members that years of neglect under previous governments have left a lot of their concerns unaddressed, so we look forward to negotiating a new contract that fixes the system while recognizing the value of their work as health science professionals,” said CUPE Health Coordinator Chris Losito.
“Our member survey earlier this year showed that excessive workload is the number one issue. As well, recruitment and retention need to be addressed because health care teams are being stretched to the limit. So we are hopeful and optimistic that this current round of negotiations will produce an agreement that improves health care services for all British Columbians while respecting the contributions of the hard-working, multi-disciplinary professionals who deliver them.”
HSPBA represents 18,000 union members, the majority of whom are represented by the Health Sciences Association. As well as CUPE, which has 800 members in the sector, other unions represented at the bargaining table are BCGEU, PEA, and HEU. The current collective agreement expires in March 2019.
For regular bargaining updates, check CUPE’s Community Health website, or follow us on our Facebook page.
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CUPE’s member representatives to the HSPBA bargaining committee are:
- Chief negotiator: Chris Losito, CUPE National Representative and Health Coordinator – BC Region.
Bargaining Committee members:
- Jennifer Kassimatis, Environmental Health Officer, Vancouver.
- Sheri Moy, Licensing Officer, Burnaby.
- Michael McKinley, Environmental Health Officer, Victoria (alternate committee member).