As your bargaining committee enters the second of five weeks of scheduled negotiation dates, we are keeping your priorities at the forefront of our bargaining efforts. 

Your bargaining committee is ramping up discussions with the Health Employers' Association of BC (HEABC). After weeks of inspiring members to show support for public service workers striking for a reasonable pay increase, and walking together with fellow BCGEU members and PEA members on the picket lines, your committee is encouraged by news of a tentative agreement for public service workers. The tentative agreement, which has not yet been ratified, seems to indicate that government is prepared to be more flexible than we have seen to date.

Your committee has tabled a wage proposal for HSPBA members that would reflect the significant level of inflation in B.C. The employer has not yet responded to this proposal, and your committee is urging the employer to have more meaningful discussions in the coming weeks, specific to the top priorities of the bargaining association.

Survey results

Members responded to the recent survey on bargaining issues and noted the following concerns:

• 39% of members report there are long wait lists for their services
• 47% report their workload is not sustainable
• 77% report there are shortages in their profession
• 47% of members say they are thinking of quitting in the next two years

The fact that many health science professionals are so burnt out they want to leave their jobs is extremely concerning. It's vital that the government knows that we could lose so many of our health science professionals if no progress is made on:

• helping health science professionals manage affordability issues
• continuing to modernize the classification system
• putting barriers in place to lessen the impacts of workload and fatigue
• improving flexibility in scheduling, and access to meaningful time off
• protecting the Joint Health Sciences Benefits Trust that provides the benefits members need

Thank you to every member who took the time to fill out the survey and share their views. Thousands of members described the daily challenges at the worksite, and these stories are being taken directly to the negotiations table to help make the urgency of the situation more real.

We will continue to provide updates as bargaining continues.

In solidarity, 

Your BCGEU HSP Bargaining Committee 

Tim Little, Local 404 Bargaining Chairperson 
Matthew Cook, Local 401 
Virginie Fostroy, Local 407 
Michelle McAuley, Staff Representative, Negotiations 

P.S. Check that we have your personal email address here https://my.bcgeu.ca/signup and forward this link to any colleagues not receiving updates. 

UWU/MoveUP