HSPBA

Local health sector activists brush up on shop stewarding, notetaking skills

BURNABY—Even during the pandemic, educational opportunities for union activists in community health don’t all have to be on Zoom. On September 24 and 25, eight CUPE members from Locals 15, 1004, 1978 and 4816 took advantage of physically distant space at the B.C. regional office to take combined workshops for CUPE’s Introduction to Shop Stewarding and Notetaking.

The sessions, facilitated by CUPE Health coordinator Chris Losito, were specifically tailored to the two health sector collective agreements CUPE works with, the HSPBA and CBA. Members reviewed the collective agreements while discussing the complicated structure of the sector and relationships with employers and the HEABC.

Final deadline notice – Complete the survey: HSPBA job classification redesign

NOTICE TO CUPE COMMUNITY HEALTH MEMBERS UNDER HSPBA CONTRACT

Final deadline notice: Your participation needed in classification redesign survey

As part of the 2019-2022 collective agreement, the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) established a working group to continue the work of modernizing the HSPBA Classification System. The purpose is to address anomalies and regularize a number of professions and professional practice issues that have developed in a changing health care system.

A total of $10 million was negotiated to fund the first steps of a wholesale restructuring of the classification system to address decades-old inequities in job categories.

Phased in over three years, the agreement is to make changes to the classification system that will address existing inequities, improve recruitment and retention, and support the government’s modernizing of health care delivery in the province, including the creation of community-based, multidisciplinary health care teams.

The next step of the joint committee’s work is to assess the circumstances of members’ jobs that may be affected by the next steps of the modernization project as outlined in provisions (r), (s), and (t) of Appendix A of the Memorandum of Agreement re HSPBA Classification Redesign – Interim Agreement. (Reference: Page 83 of the summary of changes to the HSPBA collective agreement.)

Members are asked to complete a survey to the best of their ability so that the union has the best information available in matching job functions to the appropriate classification and rate of pay.

Information gathered by CUPE is secure and will be used to establish correct classification and wage rates for members in jobs captured by this phase of the classification redesign.

Deadline for completion of the survey is midnight, September 14, 2020.

Please access the survey here.

For further information, please contact CUPE Health coordinator Chris Losito at closito@cupe.ca.

REMINDER Complete the survey: HSPBA job classification redesign

NOTICE TO CUPE COMMUNITY HEALTH MEMBERS UNDER HSPBA CONTRACT

Reminder: Your participation needed in classification redesign survey

As part of the 2019-2022 collective agreement, the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) established a working group to continue the work of modernizing the HSPBA Classification System. The purpose is to address anomalies and regularize a number of professions and professional practice issues that have developed in a changing health care system.

A total of $10 million was negotiated to fund the first steps of a wholesale restructuring of the classification system to address decades-old inequities in job categories.

Phased in over three years, the agreement is to make changes to the classification system that will address existing inequities, improve recruitment and retention, and support the government’s modernizing of health care delivery in the province, including the creation of community-based, multidisciplinary health care teams.

The next step of the joint committee’s work is to assess the circumstances of members’ jobs that may be affected by the next steps of the modernization project as outlined in provisions (r), (s), and (t) of Appendix A of the Memorandum of Agreement re HSPBA Classification Redesign – Interim Agreement. (Reference: Page 83 of the summary of changes to the HSPBA collective agreement.)

Members are asked to complete a survey to the best of their ability so that the union has the best information available in matching job functions to the appropriate classification and rate of pay.

Information gathered by CUPE is secure and will be used to establish correct classification and wage rates for members in jobs captured by this phase of the classification redesign.

Deadline for completion of the survey is midnight, September 14, 2020.

Please access the survey here.

For further information, please contact CUPE Health coordinator Chris Losito at closito@cupe.ca.

Complete the survey: HSPBA job classification redesign

NOTICE TO CUPE HEALTH SCIENCE PROFESSIONALS MEMBERS:

Classification redesign of HSPBA collective agreement: your participation needed

As part of the 2019-2022 collective agreement, the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) established a working group to continue the work of modernizing the HSPBA Classification System. The purpose is to address anomalies and regularize a number of professions and professional practice issues that have developed in a changing health care system.

A total of $10 million was negotiated to fund the first steps of a wholesale restructuring of the classification system to address decades-old inequities in job categories.

Phased in over three years, the agreement is to make changes to the classification system that will address existing inequities, improve recruitment and retention, and support the government’s modernizing of health care delivery in the province, including the creation of community-based, multidisciplinary health care teams.

The next step of the joint committee’s work is to assess the circumstances of members’ jobs that may be affected by the next steps of the modernization project as outlined in provisions (r), (s), and (t) of Appendix A of the Memorandum of Agreement re HSPBA Classification Redesign – Interim Agreement. (Reference: Page 83 of the summary of changes to the HSPBA collective agreement.)

Members are asked to complete a survey to the best of their ability so that the union has the best information available in matching job functions to the appropriate classification and rate of pay.

Information gathered by CUPE is secure and will be used to establish correct classification and wage rates for members in jobs captured by this phase of the classification redesign.

Deadline for completion of the survey is midnight, September 14, 2020.

Please access the survey here.

For further information, please contact CUPE Health coordinator Chris Losito at closito@cupe.ca.

Update on pandemic pay and union dues

Dear CUPE community health members:

RE: Pandemic pay update

You should see the provincial pandemic pay as a lump sum payment near the end of August or possibly early September. The employers are looking to make the process as streamlined as possible, which is why the payment has not yet been made.

Your CUPE Local will be informing your employer this week that collection of dues should be waived on the pandemic pay.

We would like to recognize the remarkable efforts of shop stewards, local executives and all other union activists for their role in supporting and advocating for all members during the pandemic. These activists volunteer their time, knowledge and skills to enforce your collective agreement rights and to communicate the needs of the membership to the employer.

More information on the pandemic pay fund can be found here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support/temporary-pandemic-pay

In solidarity and good health,

Chris Losito
CUPE National Representative

UPDATED: Sector-specific guidelines and general health & safety practices during pandemic

Answers also available regarding employer obligations for return to work during COVID-19 

BURNABY—CUPE’s National Health and Safety branch has developed a series of sector-specific guidelines to assist members during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines are part of an overall “kit,” which includes:

  • COVID-19: Health and safety practices while working during a pandemic
  • COVID-19: General Occupational Guidelines
  • COVID-19: Fact Sheet
  • COVID-19: The Right to Refuse Unsafe Work
  • COVID-19: Cleaning and Disinfecting
  • COVID-19: Personal Protective Equipment (Fact Sheet)
  • COVID-19: Use of Masks and Respirators (Fact Sheet)
  • COVID-19: Masks and Face Coverings

The health sector guidelines document contains embedded links to the documents listed above.

CUPE has also released a Frequently Asked Questions document about issues related to the Employer’s obligations for return to work during the pandemic.

 

Temporary COVID-19 pandemic pay now available

BURNABY—BC NDP Finance Minister Carole James today announced temporary COVID-19 pandemic pay for frontline workers. Details of the fund, and CUPE BC’s response, can be found here.

“We are gratified by the recognition of the critical work our members across the health care sector have been doing during this incredibly challenging pandemic,” says CUPE Health Coordinator Chris Losito.

“Our members have been unwavering in their commitment to maintaining the high standard of public health care that we’ve come to expect. And we believe that this recognizes those amazing contributions.”

As the government’s announcement states, no application is necessary as the employer will be administering the fund.

For more information on eligibility and other details around the fund, please visit the government’s dedicated page.

 

HSPBA pandemic response fund on hold

The HSPBA pandemic response fund negotiated on behalf of B.C.’s health science professionals will be reviewed following the announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of $4 billion in federal funding, in cost share with the provincial government, to recognize and support the work of essential workers.

After reaching the $5-million Pandemic Response Fund agreement with the BC Ministry of Health last month, CUPE has continued its work to ensure that contributions of its essential members are properly recognized during the COVID-19 crisis.

As a result, the HSPBA pandemic response fund application process has been put on hold until next week.

We thank all members for your support and interest in the fund and we will notify you immediately upon receiving new information to share.

$5-million allowance fund negotiated for health science professionals

BURNABY—Health science professionals on the front lines of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia will be paid a daily allowance on top of straight time earnings retroactive to April 1, in an agreement reached with the Ministry of Health.

The $5-million fund was negotiated on behalf of the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association. Health science professionals on the health care team eligible to apply for the allowance include, but are not limited to:

• Respiratory therapists making sure patients have all the interventions and supports they need to survive a serious respiratory illness;
• Laboratory technologists and medical imaging technologists performing diagnostic tests;
• Dietitians, speech language pathologists, and physiotherapists critical to recovery;
• Biomedical engineering technologists who are critical to the maintenance of life-sustaining medical equipment;
• Social workers supporting patients and their families; and
• Licensing and public health inspectors

The fund was created to supplement straight-time earnings by $4 an hour for the month of April. It applies to health science professionals who work in direct patient care and who are not able to be physically distance from patients at work, or who work with material or samples that may be infectious. The $5-million fund will be administered by the affected unions.

Details on how CUPE members can apply to the fund will follow shortly. Please ensure that we have your current personal e-mail address.

The HSPBA collective agreement covers 20,000 health science professionals in five unions: HSA, CUPE, BCGEU, PEA, and HEU.

Collective Agreements Update

Dear CUPE health sector members:

Several collectively bargained increases and improvements have come into effect as of April 1, 2020. For ease of reference, all of these new rights are listed below.

We continue to wait for the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) and the bargaining associations to complete production of the new collective agreements. In the meantime, for your current contract you must read your 2014-2019 collective agreement alongside the 2019-2022 memorandum of agreement for CBA members and for HSPBA members.

All members receive a 2 per cent general wage increase, effective for the first pay period after April 1, 2020.

Community Health Bargaining Association (CBA):

Effective from April 3, 2020:

  • The Night Shift Premium will be increased
  • A further Comparability Adjustment increase will be applied to eligible classifications for Low Wage Redress.

Heath Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA):

  • The Year One Appendix A classification and compensation provisions will be completed by April 30, 2020
  • Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists will see a monthly increase for all grades and the Master’s qualification differential will be eliminated, effective April 3, 2020.

Please visit your CUPE Community Health member website at bcchs.cupe.ca, and follow @cupecommunityhealthbc on Facebook and Instagram, for regular and important updates.