Canada : health Science Association responding to workers

"Unions are every bit as relevant today as they ever were," said Garnet Dishaw, a union representative with Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan. "Issues are a little different now, but we still have to address those issues."
Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan (HSAS) is the union for professional health care specialists. Its mandate is to work to improve the economic and general welfare of its members and improve the health care environment for the public.
With offices in Regina and Saskatoon, HSAS represents over 3,000 health care professionals working in 12 regions, as well as several privately-owned ambulance services in the province.
"Most recently, we organized the Gravelbourg Ambulance workers and Canadian Blood Services in Regina," said Dishaw.
The organizing done by HSAS includes creating greater job security and contributing some input into how the workplace operates.
In November 2008, representatives from HSAS and Canadian Blood Services began bargaining the first Collective Agreement for members employed by Canadian Blood Services in Regina.
Many new bargaining units, including both Gravelbourg and Canadian Blood Services, were brought in by employees from the company who called HSAS to inquire about services.
"We contact employees but often a staff member in a non-union workplace will call to ask about the level of support we offer, how they can be certified. They ask if we want them and if we are interested in representing them," said Dishaw.
HSAS is an independent trade union, so it does not belong to a central labour body. However, HSAS does coordinate with unions from across the country that represent health care professionals in other provinces through the Canadian Health Professionals Secretariat. As well, HSAS works with other health care unions in Saskatchewan in order to protect the rights of all health care workers.
"We've got new issues and new problems, but we still have the same discrimination from management and abuse and harassment of workers by managers, as we did in the twenties," said Dishaw.
One example of these new issues would be protecting employees who work with dangerous chemicals that simply didn't exist twenty years ago.
Along with facing modern challenges, HSAS continues to work through government restrictions on collective bargaining and organizing new workers, a mission that has a long, strong history in Saskatchewan.
"I spent three and a half years working with Hub Elkin and Jim Warren on a labour history book as we felt there should be a written account of the strong history of unions in Saskatchewan," said Dishaw. That book was On the Side of the People - a History of Labour in Saskatchewan.
"Over all, employers are accepting of our existence. There's no mass hysteria opposing workers being, or wanting to be, part of a union in Saskatchewan," said Dishaw.
Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan will continue to be relevant, and its mission to protect the health care labour force will be carried out as long as there is a need to foster strong, healthy relationships between employers and employees in safe and positive work environments in Saskatchewan.
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