Changes to B.C. labour rules a big win for Hospital Employees Union
Posted April 30, 2019 2:36 pm.
Last Updated April 30, 2019 2:38 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – The province is getting props from the Hospital Employees Union for upcoming changes to the labour code.
Jennifer Whiteside with the union says new rules around contract flipping will give much-needed continuity to patients and workers. Going forward, when a contract changes to a new company, the employment agreement will go with it.
Whiteside says previously, a contract change could have meant firing entire teams. It’s happened at care homes and to concession workers at Rogers Arena.
“Workers may be invited to re-apply for the same jobs as a new contractor — but usually at a lower rate of pay and with the loss of their union … and any benefits related to their length of service,” she said.
One of her members, she says, has done this many times. “These labour code changes mean he won’t have to apply for his job and start over for the fourth time over a career spanning 30 years in our health care system.”
Keeping contracts, Whiteside says, means care workers don’t need to change jobs so patient care stays constant. The new code also retains secret ballots — something the Greens said was necessary to get their support.
