HSPBA

BURNABY – More than 750 CUPE members represented by the Health Sciences Professional Bargaining Association (HSPBA) will soon have greater control over their benefits, thanks to a new joint benefits trust that will better address members’ needs.

The Joint Health Sciences Benefit Trust (JHSBT) was negotiated as part of the 2014-2019 HSPBA collective agreement to protect and enhance members’ benefits. The HSPBA/HEABC Working Group tasked with setting up the JHSBT has made substantial headway on a long list of priorities in advance of the anticipated hand-over of responsibility to the joint trust. Key documents for the new trust are in place and the work of companion agreements are nearing completion as the Working Group moves closer to concluding the formal negotiation stage which began in 2014.

Troy Clifford, CUPE’s representative on the JHSBT working group, describes the trust as a progressive and innovative approach that will lead to better, more secure benefits.

“The JHSBT is a better trust model than the traditional health and welfare trust model. There’s more flexibility for members, improved oversight and better value for service,” said Clifford.

For more information on the JHSBT, see the HSPBA’s joint release. You can also contact Troy Clifford at tclifford@cupe.ca or your respective CUPE Local HSPBA representative.

Your Joint Health Sciences Benefit Trust (JHSBT) Working Group has been making a lot of progress recently—both in establishing the trust itself and in securing important provisions for the negotiated trust language. Key achievements reached during the last 18 months of negotiation include:

1.     A better trust model: the JHSBT is an Employee Life and Health Trust (ELHT) rather than the traditional health and welfare benefits trust. By negotiating the ELHT model, the new plan will be able to take advantage of more favourable tax treatment on investment income. It will also be allowed to accumulate surpluses and reserves in a manner not permitted under the traditional health and welfare trust model.

2.     Sustainability: The ELHT model is a more sustainable arrangement for health and welfare programs only recently permitted under federal statute. These new rules were a concession by the federal government during the near bankruptcy of General Motors in 2009. The new rules only apply to new health and welfare trusts – including our JHSBT.

3.     More flexibility for members: The ELHT model gives trustees more flexibility in managing and planning changes and improvements to the benefit plan going forward. Under a yet-to-be determined fixed funding formula (expressed as a fixed percentage of regular straight-time payroll) trustees will be required to operate within a fixed income stream. However, having the tools to create contingencies and reserves as permitted under an ELHT will result in more certainty and stability for the JHSBT in the years ahead. This means that members can continue to count on a good quality benefit plan – a high priority for HSPBA and its CUPE members.

4.     Improved oversight: As partners in the JHSBT, trustees for the Health Sciences Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) will have access to financial and claims data information as never before. Full disclosure of this information will allow for better oversight and help shape policies that better serve the needs of plan members. The partnership created by the JHSBT means the HSPBA will finally be on equal footing with the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) regarding the benefit plan – similar to the Municipal Pension Plan partnership which has been in place since 2001.

5.     Better value for service: Trustees will be responsible for all aspects of the relationship between the JHSBT and contracted service providers Pacific Blue Cross, Great West Life and the Health Benefit Trust. As owners of the benefit plan data, the JHSBT can ensure good value for the services provided. This means there will be competition for our business and an opportunity to see what innovations are available in the benefits field. Like most industries, technology is driving rapid changes in service delivery models world-wide. The insurance and benefits industries are no different, and some of these innovations should yield benefits for both members and providers of benefit plans.

6.      A surplus from the LTD plan: Since mid-2006, members have paid 30 per cent of the cost of premiums for the LTD plan. Last July, as part of our due diligence for the JHSBT, HSPBA became aware that LTD premiums began generating surpluses in late 2012. The surpluses were a result of excellent market returns, (the BC Investment Management Corporation manages the funds – the same people managing your pension plan investments) and lower than expected LTD claims experience. Anticipating that this trend would continue – and on the advice of our legal, actuarial and benefit advisors – HSPBA secured an agreement for a Member Premium Trust Account. This account secures and segregates these monies for the exclusive administration for members by the HSPBA trustees once the JHSBT is operationalized in April 2016. While it is difficult to know just how much money this will generate for the Member Premiums Trust Account, it should go a long way to provide benefit security for HSPBA members right through to the expiry of the current collective agreement in 2019. The parties to the JHSBT (HSPBA and HEABC) then return to the bargaining table.

Who else sits on the trust is a decision of the HSPBA and HEABC as the parties and appointing authorities for the JHSBT. As far as trustees from the member unions are concerned, the incumbent trustee for CUPE, National Representative Troy Clifford, will continue in this role. Additional interim trustee appointments include most of the Working Group members who have been working on this project since the beginning of last year, including Brother Clifford. Subsequent appointments would be for three years with renewals.  On June 22, the union members on the board were announced.

The JHSBT will be governed by a Board of Trustees with an equal number of trustees appointed by HSPBA and HEABC, and members of the HSPBA Working Group have now been selected to act as interim trustees.

The Working Group members and interim trustees are:

·        Jeanne Meyers, HSA

·        Dennis Blatchford, HSA

·        Alison Hietanen, HSA

·        Troy Clifford, CUPE

Before the JHSBT goes live next April, we will need to do a re-enrolment of members. That will mean issuing new pay-direct cards and some type of re-enrolment process. We are actively discussing this issue with our advisors and benefit providers to determine the best approach. When those details are worked out, a communication plan will be rolled out to members and employers to ensure an orderly transition to the new identification system. Stay tuned for more information on the re-enrolment in the coming months.

For more information, please contact Troy Clifford at tclifford@cupe.caor your respective CUPE Local HSPBA representative. 

BURNABY  —  Further to our March 30 update on the Joint Health Science Benefits Trust (JHSBT), we are pleased to announce that the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers’ Association (HEABC) have ratified the trust agreement that formally establishes the Trust.

The trust agreement is the legal document that establishes the terms and conditions of the Trust and outlines the authorities and responsibilities of the parties to the Trust—HSPBA and HEABC—and the authorities and responsibilities of the trustees to be appointed to the Trust.

Details of the agreement are contained in the HSPBA joint announcement released today. HEABC also issued a release on the agreement today.

March 30, 2015

A Working Group established as part of the 2014-2019 Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association collective agreement has been working for the past year to take the steps required to establish a Joint Health Science Benefits Trust, which will be a jointly trusteed plan to administer members’ benefits.

Under this plan, to be established by April 1, 2016, members’ benefits will be managed like your pension – by a specialized and balanced group that meets the needs of both sides. It will allow for shared administration and decision-making about participation in and management of your benefits. The agenda will no longer be set by the short-term needs of government negotiators.

A key element of working towards joint trusteeship of the plan is gaining access to all the financial data and other information about the administration of your benefit plan.  Assisted by a team of legal, actuarial and benefit specialists, the Working Group is seeking a level of transparency and disclosure that protects the long term interests of HSPBA members. And the Working Group is already seeing the benefit of that access.

When the books were opened up to the union representatives, we learned that surpluses were being generated from both member and employer contributions to the LTD plan. The LTD plan is funded 30 per cent by member contributions, and 70 per cent by employer contributions.

The surpluses, which began to accumulate in 2013, resulted from exceptional investment returns combined with lower than expected rates of disability. These surpluses were accumulating even as government and employer negotiators had a bargaining agenda to reduce benefits for members, claiming the funds were at risk of being underfunded.

The Working Group has achieved an agreement to establish a Member Premiums Trust Account to secure the assets resulting from the portion of surplus member contributions to the LTD fund. These funds will be used exclusively by HSPBA-appointed trustees to protect and improve health and welfare benefits for HSPBA members when the jointly trusteed trust is in place in April 2016.

Had it not been for the creation of the joint trust and the working group, HSPBA would have no knowledge of any surplus entitlement which might be accruing for the benefit of members. 

As the Working Group moves into the next phase—concluding a trust agreement that spells out the terms of governing the trust—we are confident that joint trusteeship is already paying off for members by ensuring that they have improved oversight of the health and welfare benefit plans they rely on.

The following are some questions and answers about the joint trusteeship:

Can members expect to see changes in our health and welfare benefits through the new health and welfare trust? It would be good to have additional services, such as dietitians, added to the extended health portion of the plan.

We are far from a point where any changes to the benefit plan could be considered. At present, the Working Group is focused on negotiating the many details for creating the joint trust partnership between the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC). As mentioned above, the new JHSBT is scheduled to ‘go live’ in April 2016 and the respective parties (HEABC and HSPBA) are working hard to put all the pieces together for the JHSBT launch next year.

Once the JHSBT is up and running in 2016, there will be a long list of issues for trustees to consider and deal with before embarking on any review of plan design features. Unlike the bargaining cycle where incremental changes were bargained over time, the new JHSBT will be able to step back and review plan design issues and trends in their entirety before any redesign of benefits is considered.

Will members have input when the time comes for a review of the benefits?

Yes. Member input will be important as the trustees work through the issues and complexities of plan design options. Members may have different wants and needs and it will be important to find the right balance respecting these different perspectives. For instance, a 25-year old member will likely have different priorities for the plan than a 55-year old member. What is known now is that members place a very high value on their benefits and they don’t want to see the benefits eroded any further. The opportunity to get the best possible value for the dollars spent will be a priority for all trustees. Efficiencies and savings that can be realized will make the dollars go further and give trustees more options for improving the benefits; up to and including expanding the list of permissible health expenses.

When can members expect to hear more?

As we get further into 2015, HSPBA and HEABC will work together to notify members of the steps required as we change over to administration of the JHSBT.

CUPE represents 725 members under the HSPBA represented in CUPE Locals 15, 1978 and 4816. The Health Sciences Association is the lead union in the 17,000-member bargaining association. The other unions in the bargaining group are HEU, BCGEU, and PEA.

For more information, please contact Troy Clifford, CUPE National representative, at 604-291-1940.

March 27, 2015

BURNABY — The Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) has completed a review of member grievances surrounding the 37.5-hour work week and has determined which of those grievances can move forward.

Members with grievances that fall strictly under categories 1, 2, 3 or 5 (reduction of hours) have already been withdrawn as ordered by arbitrators Bell and Ready. For grievances that involve process violations (categories 4 & 6), mediation/arbitration days have been scheduled for June 11-12. These will address issues at the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (CUPE Local 15) and the BC Cancer Agency. If the arbitrators are unable to help the parties reach a resolution on these grievances, they will issue a binding decision determining whether the VCHA violated the agreement. As previously advised, further dates are scheduled through the end of 2015.

The 37.5 hour work week was first proposed by the Health Employers Association of BC during bargaining in 2013. Other unions, either through their respective bargaining associations or as a result of imposed legislation, had already reverted to it. Although not without some benefits (the 37.5-hour work week increased employees’ real incomes without increasing wage rates), the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association was effectively given no choice but to follow it.

The HSPBA worked hard to negotiate the best possible outcome for members under these circumstances. By agreeing to the 37.5-hour work week, however, the bargaining association never agreed that nine-day fortnights or other extended hours schedules could be eliminated at the employers’ discretion. The HSPBA rejected this interpretation at every turn. The collective agreement specifically states that employers must work with employees and the union to ensure a smooth transition.

Unfortunately, once the 37.5-hour work week for HSPBA members took effect on September 1, 2013, some employers chose to believe that they could simply eliminate earned days off at their discretion. HSPBA disagreed, and more than 1,200 grievances were filed over the course of that fall and into 2014. CUPE filed a significant number of those grievances on behalf of members impacted by the implementation.

The first six months after implementation were mostly consumed by unsuccessful discussions about grievances between employer and union reps, but the parties did come to agreement about the key issues involved. During three days of hearings in March 2014, these threshold issues were brought before arbitrators Vince Ready and Corinne Bell for consideration. The resulting decision provided guidelines about how the process should have gone, and what was – and was not – allowed.

This decision clarified that employers were required to consider proposals from employees and, where not accepted, to explain why these suggestions should not be implemented. In a disappointing ruling for the union, the decision also made it clear that employers were allowed to reduce the hours of work for part-time staff, although seniority was a labour relations “consideration” in these decisions.

Following the April 2014 decision, some grievances on process issues were resolved as were issues related to lay-offs and reduction. However, HEABC and HSPBA remained fundamentally deadlocked over what the arbitrators meant by stating that seniority was a “consideration”. HEABC has interpreted this to imply that all grievances about a reduction in hours are now dismissed. HSPBA did not agree with that interpretation.

On October 30, the arbitrators issued a clarification on the issue of reduced hours for part-time workers: unless there is also an issue of process, employers are allowed to reduce part-time hours and the grievances will not succeed where reduction of hours is the only issue at hand. HSPBA did not anticipate that a collaborative approach to changing schedules would reduce hours for part-timers, but the arbitrators have ruled against the union’s position.

Since that decision, HSPBA has been working to get resolution wherever possible. The bargaining association also conducted a review of all grievances based on reduction of hours to see if there were grounds to continue to advance them.

CUPE represents 725 members under the HSPBA represented in CUPE Locals 15, 1978 and 4816. The Health Sciences Association is the lead union in the 17,000-member bargaining association. The other unions in the bargaining group are HEU, BCGEU, and PEA.

December 9, 2014

Expedited hearing dates to begin in 2015 for health science professionals

BURNABY – The process to deal with more than 1,500 grievances filed by health science professionals will kick into gear early in 2015, with expedited hearing dates to address implementation of the 37.5 work week. CUPE health science professionals have initiated 133 of those grievances.

Due to the heavy-handed 2013 interpretation of how the 37.5-hour work week should occur, CUPE members have seen significant impacts on their work and schedules, as well as on the delivery of services to patients and clients, resulting in widespread frustration, confusion, and concern. On March 10-12 this year, the parties took the matters before arbitrators Vince Ready and Corrin Bell. On April 7, the HSPBA constituent unions received the arbitrators’ awards(view Part A, view Part B).

Transition to the 37.5-hour-work-week continues to be a colossal task as we continue to attempt resolution of more than 1,000 grievances (including 125 original CUPE grievances) across all health authorities.

“The arbitrators’ awards were substantive, as they validated members’ concerns,” said CUPE BC health science professionals coordinator Troy Clifford. “The number and scope of the grievances, and the magnitude of the process and timelines, point to how disruptive and upsetting the whole process has been for our members.”  

The original award outlined a process to review and attempt to resolve grievances moving forward. On October 29, a subsequent clarification award was announced. On December 3, CUPE in conjunction with HSA went before arbitrators Bell and Ready in a case management hearing specific to issues involving VCH and CUPE 15 grievances. Mediation/arbitration dates have been set to deal with overarching issues at the BC Cancer Agency in PHSA (June 11) and VCHA (June 12). 

Including the June dates, the parties have agreed that expedited hearings will be held in 2015 to address any outstanding grievances.  Sixteen dates have been set through the end of 2015 for expedited hearings,as outlined in the awards of April 2014.

CUPE represents 725 members under the HSPBA represented in CUPE Locals 15, 1978 and 4816. The Health Sciences Association is the lead union in the 17,000-member bargaining association. Other unions in the bargaining group are HEU, BCGEU and PEA.

BURNABY – Members of the BCGEU, CUPE and PEA who belong to the Health Sciences Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) each have a negotiated employee program for Enhanced Disability Management (EDMP) that is being rolled out this month. 

HSA conducted the initial roll-out on November 1, 2013.  Following the addition of FTEs during bargaining, the remaining constituent unions are now working with the HSPBA EDMP coordinator to roll out the program to their members.

The EDMP is a holistic disability management program that works collaboratively with the employee, employer and union to ensure that employees return to work in a safe and timely manner.  It is a required program for all regular employees who are part of the HSPBA bargaining association and have either taken time off with a work-related illness/injury (WCB) after one day or are off due to a non-work related illness or injury for five days or more.

The goals of the EDMP are to:

• Support employees who are struggling at work, possibly preventing them from being off work;
• Facilitate early intervention and effective rehabilitation to ensure that employees either remain on the job or have access to early-return-to-work programs;
• Promote safe, accessible, and healthy workplaces;
• Encourage health promotion and employee wellness;
• Ensure a process that applies to potentially all incidents of inability to work as a result of illnesses, injury, disability and impairment; and
• Reduce the costs of sick, LTD and WorkSafeBC leave

The EDMP is intended to assist regular full-time or regular part-time employees in accessing services which can help to address medical, workplace or personal issues that represent barriers to an employee’s ability to return to work on a regular basis. It is designed as a plan the employee can use from the time they step out of the workplace through the treatment, possibly LTD, GRTW and accommodation, if required.  Referrals can come from a variety of sources, including central call-in systems, employees, unions, managers, WCB, or LTD carriers.

For more information on the Health Sciences Professionals Bargaining Association CUPE, BCGEU and PEA EDMP program, please contact:  Benita Spindel, your CUPE HSPBA EDMP representative at: health.sciences@hsp-edmp.caor via telephone at (778) 968-4411.