From bc_labour_enews at bcfed.net Thu Jun 10 16:47:25 2004 From: bc_labour_enews at bcfed.net (bc_labour_enews at bcfed.net) Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 16:47:25 -0700 Subject: [BC_Labour_E-NEWS] June 10 Message-ID: <3D6D51D9DD03D611BBA700508B97628CA12ACC@BCFEDNT> BC LABOUR NEWS NETWORK Electronic News from the B.C. Federation of Labour June 10, 2004 ________________________________________________ To subscribe or unsubscribe, follow the instructions at the end of this message. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. Messages to this mailbox are processed automatically, and are not read by a person. If you would like to contact us, send messages to: < mailto:bcfed at bcfed.com Help spread the word - forward this e-mail to your friends. +++|+++ CONTENTS 1> BC's economy continues to lag behind rest of Canada 2> Cap Rouge Coroner's inquest calls for sweeping changes in Coast Guard search and rescue efforts 3> Pay Equity survives Bill 37 and brings thousands of health care workers up to target rate 4> Deas Pacific Marine serves notice to lock out Ferry workers 5> The Tyee - Read excerpts from BC's Feisty on-line newspaper and sign up JUNE 10 - The Dirty Secrets of Pollsters: Angus Reid's warning about poll-driven elections 6> Another U.S. Bid - this time for BC hospital records - renews fears of Patriot Act 7> Dialysis defect puts cloud over health authority contract 8> Health Sciences Association calls on Premier's Officer to end secret negotiations with BC Medical Association on lab services EVENT LISTINGS ++++|++++ 1> BC's economy continues to lag behind rest of Canada Vancouver-New unemployment figures released by Statistics Canada June 6, 2004 show BC is still far from an economic recovery. "BC has already recorded 15,000 lost jobs in 2004," said Sinclair, "And youth unemployment remains a serious issue as students enter the summer workforce," said B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair. According to Statistics Canada, the only real areas of job growth in BC were concentrated in the construction sector. Sinclair noted that while consumer spending and home construction showed some signs of improvement, British Columbia could not count on low interest rates to fuel an economic recovery. "Working people know that relying on a "Visa" economy is no way to rebuild our province's economic footing," Sinclair stated. "Real spending power is on the decline," said Sinclair, pointing out that average weekly wage rates for the first quarter of 2004 had decreased when compared to 2003. In 2003, BC's personal savings rate as a percentage of disposable income was the worst in the country at negative 8.2 percent. Sinclair highlighted increasing energy costs and BC's growing trade deficit as issues that needed immediate attention if BC is to achieve any real, sustained economic growth. Sinclair also commented on the BC Liberal's failing privatization strategy, calling it a sad effort to attract private investment to our province. Sinclair re-iterated his call for a summit on jobs and the economy. "We can create economic growth in our province, but that means including working people in those discussions, and ensuring that every British Columbian benefits from our economy," concluded Sinclair. ++|+++ 2> Cap Rouge coroner's inquest calls for sweeping changes in Coast Guard search and rescue efforts After two weeks of heartbreaking testimony, a BC coroner's inquest into the tragic deaths of five people in the 2002 sinking of the Cap Rouge II fish boat has issued sweeping recommendations designed to improve Canadian Coast Guard search and rescue capability, and safety standards in the fishing industry. Those measures include a call for the Coast Guard to maintain a fully operational rescue dive team with penetration dive capability; adequate resources, staff and equipment for the dive team to do the job; improved consultation with front-line rescue personnel by Coast Guard management; and a fully functioning search and rescue hovercraft with advanced life support equipment. Download and read the Public Service Alliance of Canada's newsletter on the inquest [PDF]: < http://www.bcfed.com/NR/rdonlyres/eobz6mfoncza5xcbpsc37wy26brnbenvpyvplcvwf7 2bjzfngwiihi6i7qijowprz7bszrhtddgxmvrm6wdrroz6zwe/cap+rouge+newsletter.pdf > +++|+++ 3> Pay Equity survives Bill 37 and brings thousands of health care workers up to target rate A two-year pay equity adjustment plan worth more than $36 million will bring 170 benchmarks up to their top-step pay equity target rate. In all, more than 34,000 members receive pay equity adjustments and nearly 60 percent of these achieve their pay equity target rates by 2005. The plan - reached Monday between health care unions and the Health Employers Association of BC - distributes annual pay equity adjustments worth one percent of the sector's payroll retroactive to April 1, 2004 and again on April 1, 2005. Health employers had put the suspension of pay equity on the table during contract talks this Spring,but the Campbell Liberals left these ongoing adjustments untouched when they imposed a contract on 43,000 health care workers in April. "Make no mistake - Bill 37 stole a decade of pay equity gains from working women and men in health care," says Hospital Employees' Union secretary-business manager Chris Allnutt. "But it's our members' fight for fair wages in a sector dominated by women that ensured pay equity was not removed from the contract by the Campbell Liberals." The largest adjustment will go to Licensed Practical Nurses who will receive a monthly wage adjustment of $193.00 retroactive to April 1, 2004 reducing the impact of last month's legislated 11 percent roll back to 6.4 percent. For more information on HEU pay equity, visit: < http://www.heu.org/cgi-bin/pi.cgi?t:../pubs/pubs_article2.html+published_art icles_list.FILE:/newsletters/2004-6/published_articles_list+published_articl es_list.RECORD!Display:10003+publications_list.FILE:admin/database/publicati ons_list+publications_list.RECORD:10000+published_dates_list.FILE:/newslette rs/published_dates_list+published_dates_list.RECORD:10064 > To download a PDF version of the pay equity tables: < http://www.heu.org/2004/2004-2005-pay-equity.pdf > +++|+++ 4> Deas Pacific Marine serves notice to lockout Ferry workers Workers at Deas Pacific Marine could be off the job by Friday, June 11, 2004 after being served lockout notice by their employer, Deas Pacific Marine earlier this week. The workers are members of the BC Ferry and Marine Workers' Union (BCFMWU) and conduct repair and maintenance work on BC's Ferries. The company served lockout notice after its final offer was rejected by a 95 percent majority of BCFMU members. "We will be approaching the Labour Relations Board seeking ally status for the BC Ferry Company, and a declaration that any work performed by workers at Deas Dock cannot be carried out by replacement workers,"said BCFMWU President Jackie Miller. Miller says the union will also seek to have secondary picketing defined. +++|+++ 5> The Tyee - Read excerpts from BC's Feisty on-line newspaper and sign up The Dirty Secrets of Pollsters: Angus Reid's warning about poll-driven elections-TYEE article The most poll-driven election in memory has media and voters mesmerized. Don't be fooled, warns Angus Reid. Article by Tom Barrett in The Tyee, June 10 The media polls that are driving this election may contain hidden flaws, veteran pollster Angus Reid warns. Reid says that a combination of factors - including reduced media budgets for polling and the increasing reluctance of Canadians to talk to pollsters - could be harming the reliability of election polls. Read the full article: < http://www.thetyee.ca/News/current/Secret+Pollsters.htm > Sign up for e-mail updates on Tyee articles: < http://www.thetyee.ca/About+Us/subscribe.htm > +++|+++ 6> The Hospital Employees'Union June 3 called on the B.C. Privacy Commissioner to include a Vancouver Coastal Health Authority plan to turn over hospital medical transcripts to a U.S. company in a review of public services being outsourced to U.S.-linked service providers. The union's request comes after an earlier announcement by Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis that he plans to examine the implications of the USA Patriot Act in privatization initiatives that give American companies access to sensitive private information about British Columbians. Specifically, HEU says the VCHA's plan to hire a U.S. firm to handle computerized patient records raises fears that Canadians'personal lives could be probed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Privacy concerns were first raised by the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) February 24th, after the BC Liberals announced plans to hand over administration of the Medical Service Plan to US firms. On expert legal advice, the BCGEU filed an application for a judicial review of the government's plan. On March 31st, the BC Liberal government announced it had selected Maximus Inc., an American Multi-national corporation, to take over MSP and Pharmacare. On May 10,2004 the BCGEU called on the privacy commissioner to stop all privatization initiatives that give American companies access to sensitive private information and to conduct an investigation. BC's Privacy Commissioner announced May 28,2004 it would be examining the implications of the USA Patriot Act on government outsourcing. +++|+++ 7> Dialysis defect puts cloud over health authority contract BC's Nurses say the revelation about a potentially deadly defect in dialysis machines used in BC calls into question a preferential contract given to the machine's manufacturer by the Fraser Health Authority (FHA). The contract - a so-called "public-private partnership" signed last year with Baxter International - makes the company the preferential supplier of kidney care equipment to the FHA. In return, the FHA is using Baxter equipment and expertise to re-organize community treatment of kidney disease and kidney dialysis throughout the health region. FHA hoped the deal would enable it to save eight percent annually on the cost of kidney care. Baxter hoped to use the "partnership" to spread its care model to other BC health authorities and across the country. "What we are seeing this week shows it's just not acceptable for public health authorities to engage in exclusive privatization deals with for-profit corporations," says BC Nurses' Union President Debra McPherson. Just before the contract was signed, BCNU denounced the deal, pointing to investigations in the United States into the deaths of patients who had used Baxter's dialysis machines. The US Justice Department subpoenaed documents in a probe into the deaths of 53 patients who had used its dialysis machines. Baxter has also reached settlements with the families of patients who died in Spain, Croatia and the US after undergoing treatment on the Baxter dialyzers. This week, BC health authorities, including FHA, are telling dialysis patients to get tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, after several dialysis machines were found to be defective and possibly contaminated with blood. The BCNU is calling on the FHA to bring the contract out in the open for a complete review at its next public meeting. +++|+++ 8> Health Sciences Association calls on Premier's Officer to end secret negotiations with BC Medical Association on lab services Health science professionals are calling on the Campbell government to end secret negotiations with the BC Medical Association (BCMA) over the issue of laboratory reform. The Health Sciences Association of BC (HSA) has learned that the government and the BCMA are on the brink of an agreement that could end the competitive bidding process announced last Summer and guarantee the private sector full access to lucrative out-patient testing. HSA President Cindy Stewart says the BCMA began meeting with the Premier's Office in January in an effort to stop the competitive bidding process that would allow both private and public labs to compete for out-patient lab services. Correspondence between the BCMA and the Premier's office shows the government has offered to exclude public labs from bidding. "Last Summer, the government committed to reforming the lab system and re-directing millions of dollars back into much-needed health care services," Stewart says. "Instead, the government is negotiating a secret deal that guarantees massive profits for private labs, and diverst $60 million in savings back to a fund controlled by the BCMA." +++|+++ +++|EVENT LISTINGS|+++ SPECIAL CANDIDATES FORUM - YOUTH ISSUES Election issues important to young people will be in the spotlight Thursday night at a special election awareness and all-candidates meeting in downtown Vancouver. In addition to highlighting key youth issues, the meeting will provide an open forum for young people to engage in the political process, raise awareness about the importance of voting, and encourage young people to cast their ballots on June 28, 2004. The non-partisan event is sponsored by the youth caucus of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association, Social Justice Group, UBC Alma Mater Society, Simon Fraser Student Society, the Young Workers' Committee of the B.C. Federation of Labour and the BC Government and Service Employees' Union. Location UBC Robson Square Room C-680 Vancouver, BC +++|+++ LET'S TALK ABOUT HEALTH The Northern Health Authority is in the process of holding meetings to find out what we think about health. Here is our opportunity to let them know. The NHA has held meetings in: Fort Nelson, June 7 Fort St. John, June 8 Dawson Creek, June 9 Robson Valley, June 14 Quesnel, June 16 There will be community sessions as well as an open house in your area. To register or for more information contact: < http://www.northernhealth.ca > TEL: 1-866-445-8013 If you cannot attend a session, go to your local hospital or your health unit and ask for the consultation workbook called "Let's Talk About Health". The response forms have to be sent back to the NHA by June 21, 2004. Fax: 250-564-8368 Toll Free Fax: 877-565-8378 +++|+++ CEP LOCAL 1129 PICKET PARTY - NORAMPAC PICKET LINE Bring your family, bring your friends. Hotdogs and cold drinks by donation Donations will help Local 1129 offset legal costs incurred during this lengthy labour dispute. June 10 5:30 p.m. 8255 Wiggins Street Burnaby, BC For more information: < http://www.bcfed.com/Coming+Events/events/picket+party-cep.htm > +++|+++ 23RD USA WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR UNION WOMEN July 6-10, 2004 Five days and four nights of information, inspiration and international solidarity. Location: UCLA Centre for Labour Research and Education Sponsored by the AFL/CIO and the United Association for Labour Education. For registration brochures and further information, contact MyMy Lu at: < mailto:mymylu at ile.ucla.edu > Website: < http://www.labor.ucla.edu/unionwomen > ++++++|++++++ To subscribe to E-News, visit: < > If you want to unsubscribe or change your options (e.g, change your password, suspend E-News while you are on vacation, etc.), visit your personal subscription page at: < http://bcfed.net/cgibin/mailman/options/bc_labour_enews/ > To get helpful information, send a message to: < mailto:BC_Labour_E-News >with "help" in the subject line (no quotation marks). TO CONTACT THE FEDERATION, send an email to: < mailto:bcfed at bcfed.com > BP/smo - opeiu 15