Professionals Making A Difference
The collective agreement between the Health Science Bargaining Association (of which PEA is a member) and the Health Employers Association of British Columbia (of which your employer is a member) expires on March 31, 2010.
This memorandum contains important information about collective bargaining
As you are aware, the PEA is precluded from negotiating directly with your employer. Instead, PEA is legislatively required to be a member of the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association and to negotiate jointly alongside all other unions in the bargaining association. The union association negotiates across the table from HEABC (the employer association) and not your actual employer. Together, the unions negotiate a collective agreement that covers all employees in the paramedical professional bargaining unit in British Columbia.
In this upcoming round of negotiations, the union bargaining association includes five separate unions representing in excess of 10,000 members employed by numerous health employers in B.C. The other unions in the association are the Health Sciences Association (HSA), B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU), Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU), and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Of the over 10,000 members in this bargaining unit, the PEA represents approximately 165.
Although a minority member of the Health Science Bargaining Association, the PEA will, as in the past, fight strenuously to represent your interests and push your bargaining priorities forward.
As a first step in this, we are asking that you complete a bargaining survey. The survey is designed to give you an opportunity to identify desired collective agreement changes and improvements. Please take a look at your collective agreement, and consider what could be changed to make your working life better – whether that be benefit improvements (i.e. increased extended health coverage); increased special or vacation leave; improved job security; a wage increase, or anything else.
The information you provide by responding to the survey serves two purposes: it informs us of your views on what is important and what is not, and it provides a basis for the union to defend PEA positions at the bargaining table. Please be as specific as you can about what changes you want – i.e. specify the amount of wage increase you want; specify how you want a particular collective agreement provision changed.
This year we are conducting the HSP Bargaining Survey online. You may access and complete the HSP Bargaining Survey by going directly to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/hsp2010bargaining
If you prefer to complete the questionnaire by mail, or do not have Internet access, please telephone the PEA’s Surrey office at 604.581.6662 or 1.800.323.0488 and we will send a copy of the survey to you with a postage-paid envelope.
The PEA will summarize the results of the HSP Bargaining Survey and will share the priorities you identify with the other unions in the union bargaining association. Together, the union bargaining association members will determine this round’s bargaining priorities and the collective bargaining proposals to be tabled by the association with HEABC.
DEADLINE – The deadline for completion of the survey has been extended to Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Please ensure that you complete the survey by that date.
If you have any questions, please your Labour Relations Officer, Barinder Rasode, at 604.581.6662 or toll free at 800.323.0488.
Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. Watch for updates on the collective bargaining process in upcoming issues of The Professional, as well as PEA bargaining bulletins which will be available at pea.org through password protection and through your PEA local contact.
