We're happy to report we had a fruitful meeting recently with provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix. We're pleased to have been able to accompany BCGEU president Stephanie Smith at the meeting.

We discussed a number of topics with Minister Dix, including concerns about long-term care standards in facilities, the treatment of workers in the health sector, Bill 29 and contract flipping, home support, workload concerns, and wage issues in the sector, particularly for frontline workers.

With regard to the Care Aide Registry, Minister Dix stated that he has no intention of incorporating care aides and community health workers into a nursing regulatory body. This is a win for us, as your union has lobbied to secure other unions' support and jointly, we have been successful. 

With a new BC NDP government in power, we've been able to meet with a number of ministers on issues that matter to our members. The meeting with Dix is one of several we've had and more are planned in the future. We'll continue to work with government on important issues.

We're looking forward to working with a government in B.C. that's sympathetic to the concerns of working people like us.

In solidarity,

Carla Dempsey 
BCGEU VP, Community Health Services

Maria Middlemiss
BCGEU VP, Administrative Services

Salli Rye, BCGEU Provincial Executive 2nd Representative
Health Services