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The agreement is clear, and yet HSABC/NUPGE has over 200 members affected by issues of inappropriate layoff or reduction of hours, with more grievances filed every day. In effect, these employers have been breaking the contract and HSABC/NUPGE has been fighting back.
Vancouver (26 Feb. 2014) — In the last round of negotiations, it was agreed that members of the Health Sciences Association of B.C. (HSABC/NUPGE) would move to work a 37.5 hour work week. Over the last several months, this transition to the new work week schedule has begun, with many complications.
As Jeanne Meyers, HSABC Director of Labour Relations and Legal Services wrote to members, "From the beginning, employers have misunderstood and misinterpreted the terms of the negotiated agreement. They have attempted to reduce hours of work, eliminate earned days off and even layoff members. None of this is allowed by the agreement, which states that managers must work with staff in good faith to develop mutually-agreed schedules.
Road to a 37.5 hour work week has been filled with bumps; HSABC/NUPGE has been fighting to correct errors
The employer must give the affected staff an outline of service delivery objectives. They may also propose a schedule at this time. The employer must give the affected staff a reasonable opportunity to propose a work schedule, or propose an alternative to the employer's schedule. And the employer must consider any proposals the staff put forward. If the employer rejects the proposal, they must provide an explanation.
The agreement is clear, and yet HSABC/NUPGE has over 200 members affected by issues of inappropriate layoff or reduction of hours, with more grievances being filed every day. In effect, these employers have been breaking the contract, and the union has been fighting back.
HSABC/NUPGE and HSPBA to meet with arbitrator to discuss problems and resolve grievances on the scheduling issue
Recent developments promise to sort out much of the confusion. HSABC/NUPGE and the Health Science Professional Bargaining Association (HSPBA) have scheduled three days to meet with arbitrator Vince Ready and consider these issues and grievances. The first two days of the hearing will consider questions around layoff and the reduction of hours, including whether the employer is allowed to reduce part-time employees by up to .2 of a full-time equivalent (FTE) with no consideration for seniority.
Day three of the hearing with Mr. Ready will be directed at considering process issues. These include serious violations of the principles negotiated in the memorandum of understanding regarding implementation of the 37.5 hour work week where the employer behaved in a unilateral and often arbitrary fashion.
HSABC/NUPGE have almost 1000 grievances on issues related to the scheduling transition. The HSPBA and Health Employers Association of B.C. (HEABC) will be exchanging particulars and sharing them with Mr. Ready ahead of the hearing so that the hearing itself can be directly focused on the questions.
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE