Members employed by Sodexo, along with their allies, participated in a creative action at Surrey Memorial Hospital Thursday to highlight the issues at stake in the current round of bargaining with Sodexo, Aramark and Compass.

This was the first in a series of actions that will travel to work sites in the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island to showcase how living wages and decent working conditions for housekeeping and dietary workers are essential for clean, safe hospitals.

These actions are also part of the growing call on health authorities and government to take responsibility for the performance of their corporate contractors operating in public hospitals.

March 27, 2009

The BC Liberal government’s controversial election “gag” law has been ruled unconstitutional by the BC Supreme Court.

Justice Frank Cole found that Bill 42′s restriction on third-party election advertising before the official 28-day election period is unconstitutional.  He’s expected to issue written reasons for his judgement early next week.

The decision is a huge victory for free speech and a clear indictment of the BC Liberal government’s attempt to silence its critics.

Bill 42 was introduced by the Campbell Liberals last Spring and was rushed through the legislature despite massive public opposition.

The effect of the judgement will be to restrict third party spending on advertising to $150,000 during the 28-day election period only.  It’s not yet clear how Justice Cole’s decision will impact other aspects of Bill 42.

The law expanded the definition of election spending and places new limits on ID requirements for voter registration that disadvantage low income and homeless people in our communities.

March 25, 2009

The campaign to raise awareness of the importance of community-based social services is being supportd across BC, with 30 municipalities passing resolutions declaring March as Community Social Services Awareness Month.

City councils have recognized that community social services “help improve the quality of life for everyone” and that “greater recognition and understanding of the critical role these services play in our communities is needed to ensure their continued availability and improvement.”

Declarations supporting March as Community Social Services Awareness Month have been passed by Burnaby, Central Saanich, City of North Vancouver, Colwood, Duncan, Kamloops, Kelowna, Oak Bay, Parksville, Penticton, Pitt Meadows, Port Alberni, Port Moody, Prince George, Richmond, Saanich, Surrey, Terrace, Vancouver, Victoria, View Royal, Village of Belcarra, Williams Lake, Fort St. John, Campbell River, Trail, Squamish, Cranbrook, Powell River, Ladysmith and Mission.

Throughout the month of March, community social services workers have hosted forums, informational displays, food drives, and other events to raise awareness about the importance of community social services for all British Columbians.

The public is invited to participate in a five-km WALK for Community Social Services in Victoria, starting from Centennial Square at 11:00 am on Saturday March 28.

For more information, please visit the Community Social Services Matter website at www.communitysocialservicesmatter.ca

The Community Social Services Matter campaign is supported by the 15,000 workers covered by the Community Social Services Bargaining Association.

Government is sending out confusing and contradictory messages about its mandate for future negotiations with health care workers and the rest of the public sector.

Last month, the government publicly announced a two-year wage freeze for all workers. Now they’ve made exceptions to this policy based on criteria that have not been made clear.

In a letter to the provincial health minister George Abbott, it addresses pressing recruitment and retention issues cannot be ignored. The Labour market adjustments to wage rates hard-to-fill jobs in health care must be applied fairly and effectively across the sector.

If government is committing resources to provide labour market adjustments, there are a number of job classifications in the unions that qualify. There’s no reason to wait until the expiry of our current agreement to deal with those issues.

For example, prior to the 2006 round of bargaining. The facilities negotiated adjustments to the compensation package of skilled trades workers to address serious shortages for these classifications.

Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) has repeatedly  been asked about their timeframe for bargaining, and was told there were no plans for early negotiations.

The unions were assured that if negotiations with one union were to proceed, all health unions would be afforded the same opportunity. More recently, HEABC told the unions that the window for negotiations was closed.

A more productive approach would have been an open and transparent process with a reasonable timeframe that would allow for consultation with members and the unions in the Facilities Bargaining Association.

Negotiations will not take place without a mandate from are members and in order to protect our members interests, we would need to understand any trade-offs or concessions government would be seeking in order to reach an early deal.

March 20, 2009

During these tough economic times, there’s good news for members in the facilities, community health and community services sectors – an April 1 pay boost contained in the current 2006 – 2010 collective agreements.

Facilities:

As negotiated during 2006 – 2010 bargaining, a 2.7 per cent general wage increase plus special adjustments for targeted benchmarks will take effect on April 1 for facilities members.

An additional 1.5 per cent special adjustment will be paid to Orthopaedic Technicians, Nursing Assistant III Supervisors, and Licensed Practical Nurses (including Operating Room LPN’s) – raising their pay scale by 4.2 per cent.  In total, LPN’s will recieve a 15 per cent increase (compounded) over the course of the current contract.

Buyers, Buyer Supervisors, Lab Assistants, Nursing Unit Assistants and Pharmacy Technicians will also receive an additional one per cent, bringing their hourly wage up 3.7 percent.

All other facilities classifications will receive the 2.7 per cent general wage increase.

Community Health, Community Social Services:

Members covered by the 2006 – 2010 community health and community social services collective agreements will receive a 2 per cent general wage increase as of April 1.

March 20, 2009

The Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Healthcare in British Columbia (OHSAH) is conducting a study on the economic costs and personal impact that injuries have on health care workers.

The goal is to determine how an injury affects a health care worker in terms of financial costs and quality of life.

If you are injured at work between March and September 2009, you may recieve a letter in the mail asking you to participate in this study.  Participants will be asked to fill out a weekly report for at least 12 weeks, depending on the duration of the injury.

This study – funded by OHSAH and WorksafeBC – has the full support of the health care unions, HEABC, the health authorities and the University of British Columbia.

Please take time to participate in this important survey if you receive a request from OHSAH.  This will help everyone – health care workers, unions, employers, the government – understand the true costs of an injury.

March 16, 2009

Media reports have now confirmed that the BC government has offered the BC Nurses’ Union a deal to rollover their 2006-2010 collective agreement for an additional two years.

Details on the government’s terms are not yet known.

Government is considering a similar contract extension with the Health Sciences Association.

Government’s secretive pre-election dealing with some health unions is in stark contrast to the transparent and coordinated bargaining approach established by former finance minister Carole Taylor in 2006.

The 2006 bargaining process was fairly applied across the health care sector, successful negotiations produced benefits for everyone including government, health care workers and patients.

Those gains included:

• Higher than average signing bonuses of $4200;
• Average wage increases of 10.8 percent (including special adjustments for a number of occupations);
• 15 percent (compounded) wage adjustment for LPNs – the same increase later agreed to by BCNU for RNs;
• A $5 million union-operated education fund; and
• Job security through a cap on contracting out.

BCNU members will be voting on the government rollover deal on April 8, just days before the writ is dropped for the provincial election.

March 16, 2009

Job numbers released today by Statistics Canada show British Columbia continues to lose jobs faster than any other province in the country.  In the last 12 months, BC’s unemployment rate has jumped more than 60 percent and continues to climb.  Almost 70,000 full-time jobs have been lost in BC in the last year.

“The Campbell government has no plan in place to address the escalating job losses that are causing real hardship for families across the province,” says Jim Sinclair, President of the BC Federation of Labour.  “Instead of photo opportunities with western premiers, Gordon Campbell’s government needs to develop an emergency plan that protects and creates jobs.”

The Federation is calling for a moratorium on public sector job cuts.  Premier Campbell has stated he anticipates 30 percent job cuts across the public service.

The Federation is also calling for an increase in the minimum wage to $10 an hour.  BC is the only province in Canada that did not increase its minimum wage last year.  BC will soon have the lowest minimum wage in the country.

The provincial government also needs to develop a forest strategy that reverses the staggering job losses that are devastating forest-based communities and families all around BC.

“For months, GordonCampbell imagined BC would somehow avoid this economic collapse and now he’s ignoring the real pain it’s causing families,” Sinclair added.  “We urgently need a plan that puts people back to work.”

Dear Sisters and Brothers;

Thank you very much for your ongoing support of the Surrey Whalley NDP and myself.

At the end of January, many of our Sisters and Brothers in the Labour movement came to our major fundraising event-Curry and kilts–and we raised about 20 percent of the funds we will need for the election campaign.

Our Surrey Whalley campaign will be successful because of the generous support of our Brothers and Sisters at unions like yours and from individuals who choose to support a strong NDP community.

Our campaign office is now being set up at 10558 King George Hwy (lower Dell mall) and will be open for business in a few days!

Following is a list of goods and supplies that we need for the campiagn. It includes items like paper, office supplies and food. Each in-kind donation means we do not have to raise the money-and as you may know, 50 cents of each dollar we raise goes to the BC NDP central campaign.

We think in-kind donations are a great way for members to contribute. In the 2005 campaign, we had union members volunteer to bring hot food each day, most of our furniture and office supplies were donated and we had lots of donuts!

You can reach me anytime on my cell phone at: 604-328-2015 or you can call sisters Sharon or Lori at our campaign office: 604-587-5559

Thank you for your consideration

Bruce Ralston

SURREY WHALLEY NDP WISH LIST CAMPAIGN 2009

1. PAPER AND PLASTIC GOODS:Plates, coffee cups, napkins, cutlery, drinking cups, paper towels, toilet paper (sorry, because we have no kitchen, we need to use mostly disposobale goods – we will recycle in other ways!)

2. OFFICE SUPPLIES: Postage, printing, photocopy paper, note pads, pens and pencils, highlighter, e-day supplies, tape, bristol boards, felt pens, glue sticks, whiteout

3. OFFICE EQUIPMENT: Dividers, printers and accompanying cartridges, photo-copier, work station chairs, folding chairs (loaned or donated)

4. FOOD:Coffee, tea, cream, sugar, juices, water bottles, snacks, fresh fruit, sandwhich making supplies, instant soups and microwaveable meals.

5. HOT MEALS FOR THE TROOPS: As we did in 2005, we would like to find a couple dozen generous people to bring in one hot meal a day to feed the hungry campaign staff and volunteers.

Generally around 4 or 5 pm but it can also be at lunch – casseroles, lasagna, meatballs,Indian food and even salads and other healthier choices for donut-weary workers.

Ottawa, ON – While hand washing is a positive measure in fighting health care-associated infections (HAIs), a new research paper from the Canadian Union of Public Employees says that governments and employers must invest in cleaning and keep services public in order to stop unnecessary suffering and deaths.

“We can demand and audit hand washing all we want, but without a clean environment, hands will quickly become re-contaminated,” says CUPE National President Paul Moist. “The best defence against HAIs is strong cleaning and support services. Yet across Canada, these very services have been cut, and in many provinces, privatized.”

The CUPE backgrounder is the first in the country to document the correlation between HAIs (such as MRSA, VRE and C. difficile) and cleaning and support services, over-crowding and outsourcing.

The research draws from evidence in Canada and abroad, and provides proven solutions for fighting HAIs. Key recommendations include: investment in more cleaning and support staff, training and workforce stability; lower occupancy rates; mandatory cleaning standards, monitoring and public reporting of HAIs; and ending contracting out.

“Scotland and Wales have actually contracted in hospital cleaning in order to reduce spiking infection rates. They’ve learned that contracting out leads to cuts in staff, high turnover, less training and less communication between clinical and support staff,” says Moist.

The report also finds that where governments in Canada and Europe have increased investment in cleaning and infection control, infection rates have gone down.

Health care-assoicated infections are the forth leading cause of deaths in Canada. One in every nine hospitals patients contracts and HAI, and 8,500 to 12, 000 Canadians die of HAIs every year.