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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

For seven decades, Hospital Employees’ Union members have been dedicated to delivering quality public health care to British Columbians every single day.  For nearly a decade, HEU has supported five occupational subcommittees – clerical, support, trades and maintenance, patient care technical and patient care – consisting of rank-and-file members, Provincial Executive (P.E.) members and staff advisors.  These subcommittees have provided outreach to members across the province and were a valuable resource for discussing occupation-specific issues, including bargaining objectives, health and safety, and general union information. 

But last fall, HEU convention delegates passed a resolution to amalgamate these occupational groupings into one subcommittee with representatives from each of the five facilities job families to help build unity and solidarity, while still recognizing the unique needs of our diverse membership.  That’s why we’re proud to commemorate our first annual HEU Day, held on October 13, to mark the anniversary of the union’s charter date in 1944. And to celebrate HEU’s strong united health care team – working together in solidarity – for improved working and caring conditions for all members.  Be sure to send photos of your local celebrations for HEU’s social media platforms or share your posts by tagging us with #HEUday2015.  Happy HEU Day!

Every LPN owes it to themselves and their colleagues to make an informed choice about the future of our independent profession. HEU has a clear vision, a solid record of achievement, and an unwavering commitment to our success. BCNU does not. Before you cast your ballot learn why BCNU is the wrong union for LPNs. And why BCNU will always put RNs ahead of LPNs.

May 8, 2015 Throughout National Nursing Week – May 11 to 17, 2015 – HEU salutes the dedicated professionalism our nursing members bring to health care’s front lines. We are proud to represent more than 1,400 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and registered nurses (RNs), who work in B.C.’s residential care homes, supporting seniors and others who require round-the-clock care. “Every day, HEU nurses are making a huge difference in the lives of patients and residents throughout B.C. And they’re doing it under very difficult conditions,” says the union’s secretary-business manager Jennifer Whiteside. “Like others on the patient care team, they’re dealing with chronic short staffing, increasingly unsafe working conditions, and ongoing threats to their job security from private owners and operators in long-term care.” In the face of those and other challenges Whiteside says, “We’re with our nurses, every step of the way, fighting for fair contracts that value their work, improve the care, and make our health care facilities safer for workers and residents ” As part of nursing' week, LPN Day is celebrated on May 13. And as a division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), HEU stands with tens of thousands of nurses across the country to mark National Nursing Week.

In response to proposed changes to the regulation that governs the LPN profession that were announced this fall, HEU made a submission on December 21 to the B.C. Ministry of Health. 

government’s proposed changes to the regulation currently governing LPN practice – while containing some advancements – also has the potential to set back LPN practice

the regulation moves away from LPNs being under the direct supervision of an RN, to a “restricted activities” model

August 26, 2013 HEU support workers carry out critical roles on the health care team in housekeeping, dietary, laundry, transportation, and in the supply chain.  But these jobs are often invisible to the public and even to other health care workers.  That’s why the HEU Support Workers subcommittee is asking locals to organize a visible event in the workplace to celebrate our colleagues on Support Workers’ Day, August 28.

June 11, 2014

Today, after returning to the bargaining table to discuss your next contract following three months of delays by the employer, Acciona’s negotiating team refused to discuss your HEU bargaining committee’s proposals, promptly ending face-to-face discussions.

Members’ next contract, according to the process, should be based on other agreements ratified between September 2013 and February 2014 by HEU members who are employed by Aramark, Compass-Marquise and Sodexo. 

We know Compass members want to remain members of HEU

HEU wants to support you during this difficult time. Speak to a staff representative to learn more about what the move from Aramark to Compass means for you and your fellow HEU members.

HEU services for members not hired by Compass

December 15, 2015

HEU is welcoming a decision of the B.C. Labour Relations Board (LRB), issued on December 14, which orders ballots cast in a mail-in run-off vote between HEU and the United Steelworkers (USW) to be counted. Votes were cast in October and early November by Compass employees working in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and were then sealed, pending a decision by the LRB as to whether or not HEU’s application to represent the workers was valid.

July 20, 2016

HEU has partnered with GLISA International and the Canadian Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity to host a special Pride 2016 event, “Unions and the Pride Movement”, on Friday, July 29 at XY Nightclub (1216 Bute Street in the heart of Davie Village). They’re bringing Stonewall activist Martin Boyce to Vancouver to share his experiences in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights over the past four decades.

April 11, 2016

Delegates gathered at Provincial Office to determine priorities and campaign strategies for their next round of collective bargaining

Several HEU members representing the Gitxsan, Skidegate (Haida), Nisga’a and Stz’uminus nations recently joined together from across the province for the union’s second First Nations Bargaining Conference.

HEALTH CARE IS CHANGING.

Across North America, LPNs are taking on new roles and responsibilities as part of a modern nursing care team where every member is utilized to their full scope of practice.

In June, HEU brought together 60 LPN leaders for a consultation on the evolution of LPN practice in B.C.

Newsletter February 19, 2014

We Make It Happen” is the theme of this year’s HEU Patient Care Technical Day.  It’s a day for our union to recognize the critical services our patient care technical members provide in B.C.’s health care system.

Bargaining bulletin

HEU to table monetary demands in March

February 17, 2014

February 26, 2013

We often hear, particularly in the lead up to an election, how important every voice is and how every vote counts. And that holds true as HEU members join together with Canadians from coast-to-coast on February 27 to speak out against bullying on Pink Shirt Day. 

Bargaining bulletin November 11, 2013

HEU reached a tentative settlement Monday with Compass Group/Marquise covering more than 1,400 housekeeping and food service workers in health care facilities operated by the Provincial Health Services Authority and the Vancouver Island Health Authority, as well Fraser Canyon Hospital in Hope (operated by Fraser Health Authority).

Newsletter November 19, 2013

A tentative five-year deal reached by the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association with health employers does not establish a pattern for other negotiations in the sector, says the Hospital Employees’ Union.  The HSPBA agreement announced last week addresses unique concerns including unresolved issues from previous rounds of bargaining for this group of health care workers.  The HSPBA is a multi-union bargaining group led by the Health Sciences Association and includes the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, the Professional Employees’ Association, and HEU. 

Newsletter November 27, 2013

The Hospital Employees’ Union says that a robocall campaign launched by Fraser Health on Monday night is highly inappropriate. The automated calls appear to be directed to the home numbers of HEU members who have not yet “self-reported” to their employer on whether or not they have received the flu vaccine for the current flu season.

November 29, 2013 HEU members working for Compass Group at Provincial Health Services Authority sites turned out in force to vote 78 per cent in favour of a new four-year contract.  The agreement came after nearly a year of bargaining and includes modest wage increases, a signing bonus, improved vacation benefits and partial payout of unused sick leave. 

Patience is running out says HEU April 11, 2014

Bargaining resumed on April 9 and 10 between Sodexo and your HEU three-person bargaining committee, representing 240-plus members at Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre (ARHCC). During the last round of bargaining in March, your committee put forward wage and benefit improvements similar to those Sodexo had ratified with HEU in other facilities last fall. In this round, the employer replied to the union’s demands, but their initial offer fell far short. As a result, the employer was forced to sharpen their pencils and tabled a monetary package on day two with improvements to their original wages and health care benefits offer.