Health Sciences Association of British Columbia

Description

About HSA
The Health Sciences Association of British Columbia is a dynamic union representing more than 16000 health care and social services professionals at over 250 facilities and agencies in acute care longterm care and community health including workers at child development centres and transition houses
In addition to negotiating collective agreements for our members HSA is active on many other fronts including health care policy labour issues occupational health and safety wage equity womens issues and the solidarity movement HSA also works to preserve and promote public health care in Canada through campaigns and through the activities of our committees We offer a number of education opportunities to our members both directly and through our labour affiliations

HSA is actively involved in the fight against breast cancer HSA members play an important role in the diagnosis treatment and rehabilitation of breast cancer patients In addition since 1997 HSA has been an official sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundations annual Run for the Cure

History

History
HSA began in 1971 with nine health science professional disciplines at two Lower Mainland hospitals The union now represents more than 16000 health care and social services professionals in hospitals child development centres transition houses and other community agencies around the province As it has grown in a linear manner so has its consciousness grown From an organization of professionals who traditionally negotiated their own salaries that began in part because members wanted to avoid being a union HSA now bargains in concert with others and sets as its goals nothing less than the preservation of public health care in Canada

19711996 The first 25 years
The following article was written in 1996 on the occasion of HSAs 25th anniversary

HSA was formed in 1971 by representatives from a number of groups including dietitians medical record librarians pharmacists physiotherapists occupational therapists social workers and Xray and laboratory technologists Individually each group had a small voice Collectively they formed a strong organization that could have an impact

HSA has Association rather than Union in its name because of historical roots Although always legally a union originally HSAs constitution guaranteed that its members would not strike This was because members viewed strike as a conflict with their responsibilities to their patients

In 1975 after negotiations had continued for six months without even a wage offer from the employer members at the annual convention angrily voted to remove the quotnostrikequot clause Within two weeks the employer presented an offer

Since that time the controversy between quotprofessionalquot and quotunionquot members has diminished HSA members have learned that HSA and the law make ample provision for the safety of patients even in the event of a strike and that the final responsibility for safety and patient care rests with the employer

Another significant step in HSAs evolution occurred at the 1981 annual convention The previous year the BC Nurses Union obtained a contract which put its members wages 11 per cent ahead of HSAs members In a demonstration of determination to regain comparable wages HSA members voted to increase their union dues from 10 monthly to 25 and to put that money into a defence fund to provide strike pay or other means that could help regain comparability

The 1982 annual convention brought about two major changes in HSA First members changed the traditional Executive Council representation from a basis of occupational discipline to one of geography In HSAs early days there were ten disciplines which made up the membership and these disciplines each elected Councillors With growth in sophistication of technology and membership the number of paramedical groups included in HSA grew dramatically and the system of discipline representation was inadequate Therefore at the 1982 annual convention delegates overwhelmingly agreed to change to a system of regional representation

The second issue concerned delegate representation at the annual convention The previous system allowed any member to attend convention and vote on the issues The debate was heated but in the end the convention voted to adopt a system where all members could attend and speak at convention but only delegates could vote on the issues

By 1983 HSA was part of a large alliance in British Columbia Operation Solidarity and the Solidarity Coalition HSA members participated in rallies and demonstrations opposing the Social Credit governments budget and legislation The provincial government had limited spending on health care cut back the powers of hospital boards allowed for dismissal without cause of public employees and continued the 1982 legislation limiting public sector wage increases the Compensation Stabilization Amendment Act

At the 1986 annual convention HSA members decided to join the National Union of Public and General Employees This decision gave HSA a national voice on issues that affect the education health and economics of union members and society as a whole

By far the single most important event of 1986 was the HSAs first strike for the Master Collective Agreement which won the best contract settlement in the public sector

In 1987 HSA fought Bill 19 the antilabour legislation ushered in by the newly elected provincial government under Premier Bill Vander Zalm HSA members around the province participated in a oneday walkout opposing the legislation HSA as well as other unions boycotted the legislation until the Bill was withdrawn in 1991 by the NDP government That same year HSA convention delegates decided to join the BC Federation of Labour

In 1989 bargaining focused on the issue of pay equity A study commissioned by HSA showed that wages of HSAs female members with similar qualifications to men were on average 24 per cent behind male wages In time HSA reached a tentative settlement with HLRA Health Labour Relations Association just as the BCNU walked out for what was to become the longest strike in the history of BC public health care HSA and HEU members respected the BCNU picket lines but felt frustrated when a high number of nurses continued to work under their essential services agreement with HLRA The nurses strike was finally successful due to the strong support from both HEU and HSA

Wage controls hit again in 1991 with the Socred governments Compensation Fairness Act The new program like the 1983 wage controls kept public sector wage settlements behind the rate of inflation Thus HSA found itself questioning its role in the broader context beyond collective bargaining and quotbread and butter issuesquot The 1991 convention delegates endorsed a position paper which recommended that the union become involved in political and human rights issues because quotEvery time we promote fair labour legislation or better health care policies we engage in politicsquot

A change of provincial government in 1991 brought radical changes to health care Traditional acutecare services were transferred to community clinics This restructuring meant the loss of thousands of jobs in the acutecare sector as government moved health care services to the community and reduced the number of available hospital beds

The health care unions urged an orderly transition to communitybased care The government responded and negotiations among the unions the employers and the government began in early 1993 In July an Employment Security Agreement was ratified by members of HSA BCNU and HEU For three years health care workers enjoyed what might be termed relative stability within the throes of major change The Health Labour Accord the full name for the process which guaranteed virtually no layoffs job retraining job sharing and fully paid reeducation with the operations handled by local committees which included union representatives gave labour a voice in the changes which affect its destiny

As a result of health care reform in BC the Health Sector Labour Relations Commission also known as the Dorsey Commission or Bill 48 was appointed in January of 1995 The recommendations of the commission included a reduction in the number of unions in the health sector from 19 to seven HSA became part of a bargaining association with the BCGEU representing paramedical professionals in health care This meant HSA would gain members and lose members Some HSA members in allemployee certifications had to vote to pick another union to represent them as they could not be part of the paramedical professional bargaining unit Paramedical professionals in other unions such as CUPE and the Professional Employees Association chose to join HSA Registered psychiatric nurses in the health sector also chose HSA to represent them

In March 1996 HSA prepared for hard bargaining The primary issue sought by all health care unions was a new Employment Security Agreement and once again the employers group now renamed the Health Employers Association of BC resisted BCNU HEU HSA the BCGEU and the International Union of Operating Engineers all took positive strike votes The government stepped in appointed mediator Vince Ready and proposed legislation Bill 21 the Education and Health Collective Bargaining Assistance Act which forbade strikes and lockouts and allowed Ready now appointed Industrial Inquiry Commissioner to make recommendations which could be imposed as a settlement Following a provincial election which returned the NDP to office the government imposed a settlement which extended employment security for one year after displacement and referred several contentious items to employeremployee committees to be resolved by early 1998

19961999 Continuing to build our future
The following article appeared in the April 2009 issue of The Report

On May 23 1996 delegates to HSAs 25th convention had a lot to talk about The previous year had seen a tumultuous revamp of health care delivery with the establishment of regional health boards new bargaining associations that linked various unions in health care at several tables negotiations for a provincial agreement a strike vote and a provincial election

Delegates discussed a campaign to oppose downsizing at the Canadian Red Cross that threatened to cut positions and open the door to privatization of Canadas blood service At convention HSAs thenexecutive codirector Lisa Hansen predicted we will continue to need the assistance of a third party in future rounds of bargaining we will continue to see unrealistic bargaining expectations from the Health Employers Association of BC which include major concessions demands

On June 8 of that year health minister Penny Priddy enacted Bill 21 over the objections of the Health Employers Association codifying in law the recommendations for a master agreement by mediator Vince Ready

It furthered the work of the 1993 Health Labour Accord governing the massive provincewide restructuring and covered provincial agreements for more than 75000 health care workers in acute care and communitybased facilities

Hansen said the legislation didnt reflect everything HSA had sought but it protected gains made in 1993 regarding job security and didnt include the employers concessions There is a general recognition said Hansen that the people who work in the system have a right to expect fair conditions and respect as care providers

HSA started out in 1971 as an association of health care professionals who banded together when it became apparent theyd have to fight as a group to get respect from employers For the first four years the union maintained a nostrike clause in its constitution However in 1975 frustrated by the employers refusal to bargain respectfully members voted to change the constitution to allow for the right to strike

Over the years HSA gradually increased its influence And the union truly became an activist one when members voted to make the position of president a fulltime job according to current HSA president Reid Johnson

The watershed moment in terms of HSA being more of an activist union and less passive was really in 1997 when Cindy Stewart went from being a parttime president to a fulltime president Johnson said

It brought the members perspective to the daytoday administration of the union but it also allowed more time and effort for the president to build relationships in the broader labour movement to be more active in social advocacy in policy development and the smallp political side of influencing decisionmakers

The result was that from 1997 on more members began to realize they could have an effect on the policies governing their working lives such as health social services and budgetary policies Being fulltime allowed HSAs president to become a labour leader in the broader sense with involvement in the BC Federation of Labour and on a national level through the National Union for Provincial and General Employees NUPGE as well as the Canadian Labour Congress CLC

HSA increased its lobbying efforts and let the government know it wanted a greater role in discussions on the direction of health care and community social services

The members saw that the world around them was changing and they asked the president and the board to make more inroads into the political sphere Johnson said

I remember the first time we bought a table at an event for then Health Minister Penny Priddy There was a lot of discussion about how appropriate that was for HSA But it was a very effective meeting Johnson recalled with the minister coming to understand HSAs issues and signalling HSAs new role advocating for its members in the political arena

An increasing number of members joined in local activities becoming delegates to labour councils and lobbying local politicians and health boards

We started putting more resources into occupational health and safety and engaging in more advocacy including greater emphasis on workers compensation claims Johnson said

The pace of the activities reflects the unions growth in numbers over the years mirroring the expansion of the public health sector despite government cutbacks and new members choosing to join HSA

Weve also become more active with the professional associations our members belong to says Johnson Its in our constitution that we seek to build relationships with those associations More and more were trying to find ways to work together on common issues

In its 25th year HSA also became involved with the BCYukon Branch of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundations Run for the Cure the annual national fundraising event to support research to eliminate breast cancer

It only makes sense as then Region 8 director Maureen Ross wrote in the NovemberDecember 1998 issue of The Report 85 per cent of our members are women One in nine women is diagnosed with breast cancer and breast cancer also strikes two per cent of men

Often it is HSA mammographers who make the first diagnosis it is sonographers who assist with the biopsy that goes to the cytotechnologist who reads the slide

After the diagnosis it is HSA radiation therapists and pharmacists who plan radiation and chemotherapy treatment HSA physiotherapists and occupational therapists who aid in the physical recovery of the patient and HSA social workers and psychologists who counsel the patients she noted

In 1997 HSA become an official sponsor of the event and that relationship has continued and grown Today Johnson is a member of the Foundations Task Force 2020 which has that year as the target to ending the lifelimiting effects of breast cancer He chairs a working group on the healthcare workforce HSA is also involved with Telus Tour for the Cure which has brought tremendous profile about the work of HSA members in the breast cancer journey

While HSA continued to build its profile as a health care advocate the union continued to advocate for members

In 1998 nine months of frustrating negotiations and a strike led to the appointment of mediator Brian Foley His subsequent report formed the basis for a 1999 collective agreement accepted by 94 per cent of health science professionals represented by HSA While adhering to the governments zero zero and two per cent formula the contract defended the classifications system against employerdemanded concessions improved language governing work hours and assignments improved seniority portability provided money and improvements to Long Term Disability and extended care and applied all provisions of the agreement to the members in community services

That year HSA held the first bargaining proposal meeting of the community and social services employees in early May Members sought to narrow the wide gulf between wages paid in that sector and those for similar or equivalent jobs in the health care sector HSA declared that a key objective in bargaining was levelling the wage gap following on repeated promises by the provincial government to address the inequity

Members in the social services sector had to strike for 11 weeks in their pursuit of that goal By late May 1999 they reached an agreement that in the words of HSA negotiator Julio Trujillo was historic because it would remove the wage divide The BC Liberal government would subsequently tear up this agreement leading to anger and disappointment across the sector

Johnson can testify to the wage gap He saw his pay increase by 30 per cent after moving from a social work job in the community to one in a local hospital doing essentially the same work Social services has been the poor sister for a long time Weve got hundreds of members in the sector who are woefully underpaid The system is grossly underfunded Were making some headway but its slow

With a tradition of trade unionism growing HSA members were increasing their expectations of how they could make a difference in and through their union

19992009 A proud history of caring
The following article appeared in the JulyAugust 2009 issue of The Report

In 1994 the organizing model of trade unionism was adopted at three facilities The name refers to a system developed by the American Federation of Labour in 1988 replacing the top down style of unionism whereby stewards and labour relations officers assist members to one in which members themselves solve many of the problems of the workplace By 2000 members at nine facilities were trained in the advocacy and facilitation techniques required for the organizing model

As the decade closed HSAs activism encompassed broadening areas of concern The union was an observer in the massive protest in Seattle during a meeting of the World Trade Organization on November 30 In her presidents report in the NovemberDecember 1999 issue of The Report Cindy Stewart wrote The mounting concern rising to a level that brought thousands of people into the streets around the world on the opening day of the WTO talks is indicative of the fear that people have about increasing globalization unfettered market practices and the implications for democracy the environment and human rights

Having chafed under government restraint in the latter 1990s members were seeking substantial wage gains in 2001 Frustrated by the employers refusal to engage in meaningful talks HSA members launched a series of rolling strikes between May and June that garnered national media attention and highlighted the various roles and critical importance of HSA professions

The newlyelected provincial Liberal government legislated a coolingoff period in the dispute between the Paramedical Professionals Bargaining Association and the Health Employers Association After weeks of stonewalling from HEABC members frustration again boiled over this time into defiance of Bill 2 the backtowork legislation They walked out July 23 for two days of job action that ended after the government petitioned the BC Supreme Court to find the health science professionals in contempt of a Labour Relations Board order prohibiting strike action

Members protest twotiered wage proposal
What particularly galled HSA members was HEABCs twotiered wage proposal Yet that was what the government imposed on August 7 After that job action we through our national union and the Canadian Labour Congress brought a complaint to the International Labour Organization under the United Nations They investigated and sanctioned the Liberal government It wasnt enforceable but certainly it recommended change Johnson recalled

That was really pioneering for HSA in that this ILO sanction created an international stir and brought attention to this Liberal government In many ways wed matured as an organization when our executive met and ratified an illegal job action and by the second day even more members were off the job Our members are passionate about their jobs and their patients They are slow to anger but the employers and the government managed to force us to take a stand Our willingness to stand up to them showed wed come of age in some way It was a proud moment in HSAs history and another benchmark for us

After that we negotiated a basic rollover contract in 2004 Johnson relates We did get some basic contract language improvements that we wanted In 2006 the government settled a fouryear agreement with several public sector unions to cover the period through the 2010 Winter Olympics We won a lot of really good things in that collective agreement We got some reasonable wage increases but also they started to fix the wage split between our members at our insistence Additionally HSA joined the employers LTD plan and achieved decent wage increases

With yet another lesson about political action under its belt HSA moved forward in 2003 with the development of a constituency liaison program that assigned individual members to develop relationships share information and lobby government and opposition MLAs Our members werent used to doing that said Johnson But weve seen the benefit in that individual MLAs are more educated about who we are and what we do

Increasing political activism
Involvement in the political process as an important tool in educating decision makers continued The JulyAugust 2004 issue of The Report cites HSA board discussions regarding the unions expanding role in political activism HSA endorsed the BC Federation of Labours campaign of membertomember contact subsequently entitled Count Me In The board reported on the expanded membership of the unions political action committee and endorsed a senior citizens campaign to defend medicare A political action fund was announced in 2005 offering financial support to HSA members running in municipal elections

In 2004 HSA joined with the BC Federation of Labour in a campaign against four years of cutbacks to benefits and occupational health and safety regulations of the Workers Compensation Board now WorkSafe BC That year 134 workers died from injuries and illnesses caused at work The campaign aimed to educate communities about the effects of the cutbacks

Members continued to reach out into wider spheres of activism In 2006 the year HSA celebrated its 35th anniversary The Report carried an article from HSA activists Thalia Vesterback and Rachel Tutte urging members attend the upcoming World Peace Forum in Vancouver Acting with community support cities and local authorities can effectively contest global militarism and curtail ballooning military budgets that starve local and regional governments of the resources necessary to provide quality housing health education and community services they wrote

Its been interesting to watch as our activists have seen the benefit of becoming more political Johnson observes He credits HSAs affiliation with the BC Federation of Labour and the National Union of Public and General Employees NUPGE and through it to the Canadian Labour Congress for greatly increasing the unions scope Through that we have influence on what our country does nationally and internationally Also NUPGE belongs to Public Services International and through that we have awareness and input into how public services are delivered and how public services unions are operating around the world

Supreme Court rules Bill 29 unconstitutional
In 2002 the BC Liberal government imposed the notorious Bill 29 under which the government tore up existing contracts with health unions and handed large sections of public health care services to private corporations Health care unions launched a challenge that made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada which ruled several sections of Bill 29 unconstitutional Late in 2007 we started negotiations with the provincial government for compensation By January of 2008 we had an agreement says Johnson

Unions in the Health Sciences Bargaining Association formerly the Paramedical Professionals Bargaining Association negotiated a 3million settlement This was significant in that we achieved compensation for professionals whose jobs were contracted out and also funding to encourage professional development said Maureen Headley HSAs executive director of legal services and labour relations

Through this process we achieved expedited arbitration of classification grievances Processing these grievances has been tremendously tedious and we had been frustrated for many years by slowness of the process We also got semiannual direct consultation with each of the health authorities Its a significant benefit not only to our members but to the health sector in that we are part of the solution and we want our abilities to be called upon Headley said

Continued victories for HSA members
She says the union has achieved compensation and benefits that have set the golden standard Weve had some significant victories that ensure people are paid appropriate to the grade Its very complex and sophisticated and its not a perfect system but we have a large and growing department that deals with these issues on a daytoday basis

This has been developed over the past 30 years and its been streamlined somewhat

Weve lost some ground in compensation to Alberta in recent years but if you compare our provincial agreement to those across most of the country youll find we stack up pretty well Weve managed to retain a classification system thats an enviable system for a lot of other organizations and we have a dispute resolutions system that the employers have tried to simplify but not simplify in a way that makes sense to us Weve held on tight Its not a perfect system but its turned out to be pretty valuable for our members

Protecting and enhancing public care
HSA members have also brought value to an increasingly complex debate on health care in the province

In 2006 the provincial government launched its Conversation on Health a series of public meetings around the province Wellknown for its sympathies to privatizing health care the opening session featured an address from outspoken private medicine advocate Dr Brian Day health policy experts suspected the government was hoping its privatization plans would get public support Yet the overwhelming message it received was that British Columbians liked their public system and would protect it while suggesting innovative improvements Helping bring that message to the meetings were activists in HSA

They along with other unions and health care advocates demonstrated outside the forums and gave presentations Some 12000 submissions later the governments report acknowledged that the vast majority of British Columbians want health care to remain public but still indicated it would implement reforms to the system It is up to each and every one of us to continue to work to ensure that governments actions reflect the commitment to a public system so strongly and consistently expressed during the Conversation on Health Johnson wrote in his column in The Report

The Liberals misread the public Johnson asserts When the public learned what privatization had done in other jurisdictions they said Thats not what we want and that came through loud and clear

Broadening and strengthening ties
In 2007 former HSA president Cindy Stewart ended 14 years of leadership with an announcement that she wouldnt seek reelection In her regular column she reflected on the growth of HSAs activism The evolution of member involvement and activity can be tracked through the decade including the high profile showdown during the 2001 job action It was a time that members needed to step forward in their communities and speak about the importance of the work you do

It is a genie that we will never put back in the bottle and marked yet another turning point for our union

Reid Johnson was elected to the position at the 36th annual convention in 2007 A fiveterm regional director and former secretarytreasurer of the union Johnson said a key priority for the union should be to fight the labour shortage in the health professions through increased funding for training In his first column he praised HSAs growing activism and its participation in broader organizations such as the BC Health Coalition

Were a mediumsized union 16000 plus Johnson notes Our voice is somewhat limited so weve been amplifying it through partners like the BC Health Coalition We have staff and members who sit on their committees We also sit on the board of the BC office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives We chose to do that we wanted to build our influence through the kind of research and campaigns the CCPA operates under

Building strategies to protect care
What does the future hold In 2010 HSA returns to the bargaining table in a postOlympic era and an anticipated continued economic downturn Given the current economic climate collective bargaining is a challenge Johnson admits While that may put a downward pressure on wages and benefits but theres also an urgent need for training and recruitment of health care and community social service professionals

The increase in vacancy rates for a number of our disciplines is growing We have said that to address the shortage of health science professionals that the government has to have same political will that put higher levels of funding towards training for nurses and doctors

We used to be able to recruit from across the country for people to come to BC to work But higher wages in other provinces and the wellknown long hours leading to burnout are turning potential recruits off says Johnson If you dont pay people for their expertise qualifications and the responsibility then youre not going to attract the people to do the job

Johnson worries about the governments recent move to add sustainability as a sixth principle to the five established for Canadas public health care By that you might as well read cap on public spending The rest youre going to pay for privately and the private providers are rubbing their hands

We are going to continue to be a voice in that debate and well continue to amplify our voice through other organizations