HSPBA Bargaining Update – Initial round of talks complete

The HSPBA Bargaining Committee has concluded the initial round of discussions with the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC), which began March 3.

To date, the Committee has tabled language in three areas:

  • Housekeeping and non-monetary language, including amendments that will address outdated and colonial language in the collective agreement;
  • Occupational health and safety matters related to workload, discrimination and harassment, and facilitation of health sector-wide action on OHS issues; and
  • Classification proposals addressing concerns with employer-side initiatives.

The union and employer sides have agreed on some important changes to address the colonization of the collective agreement. Our occupational health and safety and classification proposals are complex and under consideration by the employer caucus during a two-week hiatus in negotiations. The union caucus will be focusing on developing a monetary package in light of information emerging about signs of a restrictive wage proposal from government.

Negotiations will resume when the Committee and HEABC return to the table on March 28.  At that time we will be tabling equity and inclusion initiatives and exploring monetary discussion.

Please ensure that your contact information is current. You can use this link to update your information: https://forms.office.com/r/mXDGtvAhWb .

Employer’s initial wage proposal is deeply disappointing

The Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC) tabled their initial wage proposal for the Community Health agreement, and we are deeply disappointed. We need a significant investment in front-line workers to address the staffing crisis in community health and we won’t accept anything less.

We expect challenging monetary negotiations, but the last weeks of bargaining have shown us that when we stand together, with your support, we can achieve important improvements for our sector.

These past weeks we addressed a number of key areas including overtime, harassment, and portability of seniority. At the table we shared personal stories from your workplaces, and made it impossible for the employer to ignore the issues you face on daily basis and the deteriorating state of our sector. Thanks to all of you who took the time to share your personal stories with us.

We’ve heard from you that you’ve had to choose at times between caring for your children or your clients because of forced overtime due to short staffing. You told us that many community health workers are forced to put yourselves at risk, driving at unsafe speeds, to stick to an unrealistic schedule. Some of you are losing a decade or more of seniority when you apply for a new position—even when it is with the same employer.

There are countless stories, and the common theme is that workers in the community health sector have been overworked, underpaid and disrespected for too long. With your help, we’ve moved the employer on some of our top issues but there is still a lot of work to do. We will all need to do more.

We will be calling on you to talk to your coworkers and ensure that they are receiving updates and ready to act when it’s time to apply more pressure to the employer. We’ll be back at the bargaining table in April and will keep you updated. In the meantime, if you need to update your contact information, please visit this link: https://forms.office.com/r/xBwFjh3WF8.

 

In solidarity,

Your Community Bargaining Association

Negotiations begin for new Health Science Professional collective agreement

BURNABY—Bargaining for the new Health Science Professional collective agreement, which covers 19,500 workers in B.C. including approximately 1,000 CUPE members, has begun.

On Wednesday (March 2), representatives from the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) sat down with the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) Committee, a team including professional negotiators, labour relations specialists and rank and file union members elected by their peers from around the province.

The bargaining committee is guided by recommendations voted on by members at a bargaining proposal committee meeting held last November, and the front-line members participating on the committee bring direct experience of the challenges facing health science professionals at this time.

Their focus is on the following:

  • Recruitment: without enough people on the multidisciplinary health care team, the crushing workload just is not sustainable.
  • Retention: without the right conditions, we can’t hang onto the people we need to deliver consistently excellent service.
  • Respect: as specialized health care professionals, the contributions health science professionals make must be understood and recognized.
  • Responsibility: there is no health care without specialized health care professionals. Health science professionals do not carry that burden of responsibility lightly and must be recognized for the role they play on the health care team.
  • Resilience: health science professionals need support for their physical and mental well-being to be able to go back shift after shift to do what they are trained to do – and passionate about doing.

Bargaining bulletin: CBA pushes for solutions to recruitment and retention crisis

Your Community Bargaining Association (CBA) tabled our proposals last week as we began talks with the Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC).

At this point in time, we are pushing to achieve non-monetary priorities that you identified as important measures to address the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector.

The employer has recognized that we share some common goals. They are aware of the dire situation caused by short-staffing and made worse by the pandemic.

We are continuing in-depth discussions this week on scheduling, hours of work, overtime, and mobility of seniority. Once we have dealt with all non-monetary issues, we will move on to wages, benefits and other monetary issues.

We will update you as talks progress.

In solidarity,

Your Community Bargaining Association

Bargaining for your new collective agreement starts today

Your Community Bargaining Association (CBA) Negotiating Committee held our bargaining conference this week and will begin negotiations on your behalf with the employers in the Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC) on February 3, 2022.

More than 21,000 workers in the community health sector from eight different unions across the province, including 1,489 CUPE members, brought forward ideas and proposals for bargaining.

With your input, we finalized our priorities, and we are ready to meet our counterparts and begin negotiating a new collective agreement.

You told us you need a fair deal that will help close the gap in wages and benefits compared to other health care agreements, allow you to better care for your mental health, and give you greater control over your working conditions.

The pandemic has shown the public how badly understaffed we are in the health care sector and highlighted the impact that has on workers and clients. Because of increased public support for our issues, we have a unique opportunity to win the improvements we need to our wages and working conditions in this round of bargaining.

We look forward to representing you at the bargaining table and we will keep you updated throughout negotiations.

In solidarity,

Your Community Bargaining Association Negotiating Committee

Health Care Presidents Council prepares for 2022 bargaining

BURNABY—CUPE’s Health Care Presidents Council (HCPC) met today to discuss preparations for bargaining, review the existing cost share campaign, approve the strategic plan for 2022, and hold elections.

“We’re currently neck deep in preparations for bargaining for both provincial associations,” said CUPE Health coordinator Tanya Paterson. “Bargaining will be done virtually, and we’ll pass on more information about the process as we receive it.”

Contract talks for the Community Health Bargaining Association will begin on February 3 and continue until March 11 while the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association will be at the table from February 28 through March 11. CUPE Research and Human Rights representatives were invited to the meeting to discuss ways to support the bargaining process.

During an update on the cost-share campaign, HCPC members viewed the new campaign video, https://www.cupe.bc.ca/caring_in_a_pandemic_living_and_working_through_covid  “Caring in a pandemic: Living and working through COVID” and discussed plans for an ad campaign in the spring.

In Council elections, CUPE 1004’s Tuesday Andrich was acclaimed as the new HCPC chair, while CUPE 1978’s Kazuhiro Takeuchi was acclaimed for another term as treasurer. CUPE 15’s Benita Spindel and CUPE 3403-01’s Shaunah Cairney were acclaimed as trustees with CUPE 1978’s Lindsay Fumalle acclaimed as an alternate trustee. The recording secretary position left vacant and will be reopened at the next meeting of the council.

Community health workers expose pandemic mental health issues

New video reveals CUPE members’ steadfast dedication despite workload, other challenges

CUPE members in B.C.’s community health sector are dedicated professionals who are committed to caring for the people they serve. But as their lives have become increasingly stressful after nearly two years of working through the COVID-19 pandemic, they need to know that health employers value them and their work.

That’s the chief takeaway from a new video released today, “Caring in a pandemic: Living and working through COVID.” In the video, 16 CUPE members from a diverse range of jobs across the sector share their experiences of life and work since the pandemic began. The interviews followed survey results that showed CUPE members have been experiencing significant mental health impacts as a result of insufficient staffing levels, redeployment, additional and excessive workloads, overtime, and lack of leave coverage, among other issues.

“The member feedback we got from those surveys indicated that there is a strong feeling of being undervalued or even considered disposable, and some of that really comes through in the interviews,” says CUPE Health Coordinator Tanya Paterson.

In the video, the members—who work under contracts for both the Community Bargaining Association (CBA) and the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA)—describe the impacts of excessive workload on their personal lives during the pandemic. They also share some of the coping mechanisms they’ve developed along the way, and—in the lead-up to collective bargaining for both the CBA and the HSPBA—offer solutions to help employers improve the working environment.

“As with other sectors, these interviews reveal just how selfless and dedicated to their work and communities CUPE members have been during the pandemic,” says Paterson. “I am so proud of them—not just for their commitment to the people they serve but also for their courage and willingness to step up and demand better from the health care system.”

Paterson added that provincial bargaining for both the CBA and the HSPBA is expected to commence next month.

CUPE represents approximately 2,200 members in the community health sector across British Columbia. These members provide diagnostic, clinical, inspection, advocacy, home support, counselling, preventative, housing, and harm reduction/safe substance use services.

View the main video here and the short member interviews here.

Ground-breaking agreement reached for CUPE 1004 peer workers

VANCOUVER—CUPE 1004 peer workers employed by the Portland Hotel Society (PHS) have successfully concluded negotiations that will give them the same rights and privileges as all workers covered by the provincial collective agreement for the Community Health subsector throughout B.C.

The ground-breaking agreement features a significant wage lift along with benefits including extended health, municipal pension plan coverage, protected seniority rights, and provisions for occupational health and safety, vacation, sick leave, and many more.

“People finally have a chance at life while working here in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). We are finally being recognized as human beings,” said bargaining committee member Doug Everitt, an original employee of Insite.

After the peer workers voted to join CUPE 1004 in March 2020, their initial challenge was being formally recognized as employees deserving of the same rights as all B.C. workers, including the right to join a union. The parties were finally able to resolve the application in January 2021 and confirmed that all the workers had voted to join CUPE.

Bargaining committee member Mark Fraser, who has worked for ten years at the Molson Overdose Prevention Site providing frontline overdose response, says the agreement for peers will hopefully lead to more workers with life experience similar to the people they serve and support being recognized. “It’s excellent that we finally have a deal,” he said. “It’s a first step in properly recognizing peers as employees and respecting their lifesaving work during this unprecedented overdose crisis.”

PHS employs about 35 members who are primarily front-line health workers fighting the overdose death crisis at various DTES locations. These include the Insite supervised injection site, overdose prevention sites and the Opiate Agonist Therapies clinic, which provides the safe supply of narcotics so that users need not rely on the poisoned illicit drug supply, which has killed more than 8,500 people in B.C. since April 2016. CUPE 1004 peers at these sites provide overdose response, connection referral for safe supply, treatment, detox services, and opportunities for other DTES residents to join the workforce and help support their neighbours. There have been no deaths at these sites.

New COVID-19 Health Order on vaccine status to come into effect on October 26

Order contains important information for CUPE Community Health members

To all members,

Please find attached a copy of the Order of the Provincial Health Officer, dated October 14, 2021, related to Hospital and Community (Health Care and other services) COVID-19 vaccination status information and preventive measures.

The Order contains important information about who the Order applies to, how the impact of COVID-19 variant development has affected provincial efforts to contain the pandemic, and why a vaccine mandate for all health workers was deemed necessary. The Order, which applies to all CUPE members working in health care, comes into effect on October 26, 2021 and will replace previous requirements.

Under the Order, all health care workers will be required to be fully vaccinated unless they have a medical exemption. No other exemptions will be accepted, and failure to comply with the Order could result in termination.

“The presence of virus variants of concern in the Province, in particular the Delta variant, has not only heightened the risk to the population generally but, more particularly, has significantly heightened the risk to individuals of advanced age, and individuals with chronic health conditions or compromised immune systems,” says Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, adding that the public health care system is under severe stress and stretched beyond its capacity to prevent and respond to illness resulting from COVID-19 transmission.

“Vaccination is safe, very effective, and the single most important preventative measure health professionals…can take to protect patients, residents and clients, and the health and personal care workforce, from infection, severe illness and possible death from COVID-19.”

The Order addresses concerns about individual rights and freedoms. It notes that individual liberty, as defined by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is not absolute but subject to reasonable limits, including “proportionate, precautionary, and evidence-based restrictions to prevent loss of life, serious illness and death, and disruption of our health system and society.”

Pages 10 through 17 provide specific information about how the Order will affect health care workers. Requests for exemption from the requirement to be vaccinated, or to provide proof of vaccination, “must be made on the basis that the health of the person would be seriously jeopardized if the person were to comply with the Order” and must follow the guidelines contained here:  https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/current-health-topics/covid-19-novel-coronavirus

If you believe you have a case for reconsideration that qualifies you for an exemption, you can submit a request directly to Dr. Bonnie Henry at PHOExemptions@gov.bc.ca with the subject line “Request for Reconsideration about Preventative Measures in Hospital or Community Locations.” For further clarification of the new Order, you can also contact Dr. Henry at:

Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer
4th Floor, 1515 Blanshard Street
PO Box 9648 STN PROV GOVT, Victoria, B.C.  V8W 9P4
Email: ProvHlthOffice@gov.bc.ca

In the meantime, your CUPE National Health sector coordinator continues to work with HEABC, the bargaining associations and employers to ensure comprehension and clarity in the Order’s application. Please remember that matters are developing rapidly in response to the Order, and we don’t have all the answers yet. As we learn more, locals will be provided with updates for circulation amongst your memberships.

Please note that CUPE National supports COVID-19 vaccination as a mechanism to stop the virus and enable our members to continue providing valuable, public services. For more information, visit: https://cupe.ca/vaccine-mandate-guidelines?utm_medium=email&utm_source=CUPEToday

If you have any questions after reviewing the order, please contact me directly at tpaterson@cupe.ca.

In Solidarity,

Tanya Paterson
CUPE Health Coordinator

Joint Community Benefits Trust expands plan service to support substance use recovery

BURNABY—Thanks to a three-year pilot project, the Joint Community Benefits Trust (JCBT) has enhanced services for employees covered under the JCBT to provide virtual health support for those facing challenges with alcohol and substance use. CUPE community health members working under Community Bargaining Association (CBA) contracts qualify for such support.

As of October 7, the JCBT has approved Special Program Funding for the pilot project, known as the ALAViDA TRAiL program. ALAViDA supports the mental health of health workers covered under the JCBT plan by providing a care team to assist with each member’s unique roadmap for recovery and allowing them to access private support from anywhere on any device. Personal information is not shared with employers, the union, or with JCBT.

Health benefits for CUPE community health members working under CBA contracts are provided by the Joint Community Benefits Trust. This Trust was established on April 1, 2017 to ensure that members receive Extended Health and Dental, Long Term Disability, Group Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment benefits. In 2021, JCBT trustees established the Special Funding Committee to address the Memorandum of Understanding 31. The ALAViDA TRAiL program is funded by the Special Program Funds.

To learn more about the JCBT, visit: https://www.jcbt.ca/.

To learn more about the ALAViDA TRAiL Program, visit: https://try.alavida.co/jcbt/.