Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA) representatives have continued to meet with health employers over the past two weeks to exchange comprehensive proposals regarding the transfer of association members to the new province-wide BC Shared Health Services (BCSHS) agency.
“In our discussions since late May with employers, we have made a number of proposals to support the transfer, including a call for additional protections to guard against any potential future downsizing of the workforce following a service transfer,” says HEU secretary-business manager and FBA lead negotiator Lynn Bueckert. “The FBA also raised concerns about members’ workload as the transition to BCSHS moves ahead.”
Employers have advised the FBA they are notifying employees identified for transfer in writing. Under Article 17 of the FBA's collective agreement, affected members must be notified of transfers in writing at least 30 days before any transfer date.
“When members are given written notice of their transfer, employers must also provide a copy of any negotiated transfer agreement,” says Bueckert. “On top of that, employers must schedule a worksite-level meeting with transferring members, and HEU must be present at that meeting.”
Looking forward, the FBA has assigned four senior HEU staff to the transfer negotiations: Chris Dorais, Coordinator of Public Sector Servicing; Brenda Van Der Meer, Coordinator of Public Sector Servicing; Robbin Bennett, Director of Membership Services; and Teressa Prentice, Director of Membership Services.
There are also eight FBA members participating on the committee to inform negotiations during the transfer process: Isaac Daniel, Provincial Health Services Authority; Rina Day, Island Health Authority; Tina De Sousa Fatima, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority; Brandon Houston, Providence Health Care; Diljit Kaur Randhawa, Fraser Health Authority; Kelly Sytsma, Provincial Health Services Authority; Andrew Taylor, Northern Health Authority; and Abigail Wiebe, Interior Health Authority.
In late May, timelines for the first transfers of management staff, HEU members of the Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA), and members in other health care unions transferred to the new agency were announced. To recap, on August 17, designated information management and technology workers will be the first to move to BCSHS. Then, in early October, accounts payable and receivable workers will make the transfer, followed by eligible supply chain workers in early November. Please note, these dates may be subject to change as negotiations continue.
HEU will continue providing updates to members as the process to establish BCSHS moves ahead.