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.