The Hospital Employees’ Union’s (HEU) Facilities bargaining committee held a four-day session from January 20 to 23 to prepare for upcoming negotiations with health employers for a renewed collective agreement covering over 60,000 health care workers.
Elected by delegates attending the November 2024 Facilities bargaining conference, the thirteen-person committee, which also includes HEU’s president, financial secretary, and secretary-business manager, will be seeking improvements to working and caring conditions that will boost frontline staffing, make workplaces safer and lower injury rates.
"We know that British Columbians support a quality health care system and that requires good working conditions for workers to provide care for patients, residents and clients," emphasizes Lynn Bueckert, HEU secretary-business manager and lead spokesperson for the Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA). “But attracting, retaining and supporting frontline health care workers to deliver the care is still the biggest issue facing B.C.’s health system."
During the planning session, the committee elected its chairperson, Chena Binns, a care aide and long-time activist from the Lions Gate Hospital local. Binns also served on the previous Facilities bargaining committee.
In addition, the committee reviewed and is continuing to deliberate on many demands submitted by locals and referred to the committee by bargaining conference delegates last fall. Key themes in the demands raised by the membership included safe staffing levels, workplace safety, wage increases and the rejection of the working-short premium.
The committee also participated in specialized training led by HEU research staff and consultant Dr. John Malcolmson. This training focused on HEU’s approach to wage comparability and the impacts of inflation on the cost of living, equipping the committee with critical expertise to negotiate fair and competitive wages for HEU members.
Historically, with the goal of ending wage disparities, HEU has fought for wage comparability to ensure our members receive wages in line with government employees working in similar roles in the public sector.
HEU first proposed wage comparability in the 1970s and brought it back to the table during the 2022-2025 Facilities collective agreement negotiations. This resulted in the formation of a working group in 2023 that included representatives from government, the FBA and health employers who were tasked with reviewing the issue and making recommendations for this round of bargaining.
“Bargaining respectfully for a fair collective agreement is a great opportunity for government and health care unions to come together to make the needed changes that British Columbians want for the public health system,” says Bueckert.
HEU will continue to keep the Facilities membership updated on bargaining outcomes. The current FBA collective agreement expires on March 31, 2025.
HEU is the lead union in the multi-union FBA which includes the BC General Employees’ Union, the International Union of Operating Engineers and other trade unions.