Spotlite Magazine

March April 2009 Issue of Spotlite Magazine available online NOW.

Spotlite Magazine is now produced and printed entirely "in-house" by our very talented and hardworking office crew.

Annual UPN Picnic

Come on out and join the fun at UPN's Annual Picnic on July 11th at Blue Mountain Park in Coquitlam. Fun, Food, Games, and Prizes. Something for everyone.

Details HERE

New Retirement Benefits Program for Members

The Nurses' Bargaining Association negotiated the conversion of one (1) percent of the 2008 market adjustment to provide funding for inflation protection and benefits for retirees (the “Benefit”). See full details and the application form by clicking on "Retiree Benefit Program" in the "Members" section of navigation bar on left.

Canadians want government to address nursing shortage, health care, in these tough economic times, new poll finds

Government spending on health care continues to be a priority for Canadians, a new poll shows. The poll found that three out of four Canadians would choose increasing the number of nurses over a tax cut. Conducted for the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions by Nanos Research, the poll gauged public opinion on government actions needed to address Canada’s nursing shortage.

“Governments must not repeat the mistake of the 1990’s and use the economic downturn as an excuse to cut health care”, warns Linda Silas, RN, President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. “The nursing workforce has never recovered from those cuts. Canadians support investments in nurses”.

The poll found that:

• Three out of four Canadians are of the opinion that increasing the number of nurses is more important than providing a tax cut.
• Nearly six in ten Canadians believed that the nursing shortage is a serious problem, while another three in ten believed that it was somewhat serious.
• Even in the current economic environment, health care ranks as the top priority for government spending among all Canadians. In Ontario and the West, health care was tied with the economy as the top spending priority for government.
• Nearly half of Canadians said they would likely vote against a government that did not properly fund health care, while another one in five said they would be somewhat likely.
• Nine out of ten Canadians support or somewhat support the government doing more to retain nurses who are currently working and to increasing the number of nursing graduates.
• The majority oppose the government increasing the number of patients nurses must care for.

“Governments in many provinces are just adding more patients to a nurses’ workload. Research shows this is dangerous and this poll shows that the majority of Canadians want governments to take a new approach to addressing the serious shortage”, says Silas.

The poll was released on the eve of the 14th Biennial Convention of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.

The national random telephone survey of 1,001 Canadians 18 years of age and older was completed between May 26th and June 1st, 2009. The statistics of a random sample of 1,001 respondents are accurate to within 3.1%, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. The detailed tables with the regional sub-tabs and methodology are posted at: http://www.nanosresearch.com.

Unions, civil society force Harper retreat on Colombia free trade

Pressure applied by the Canadian labour movement and civil society organizations has forced the Harper government to remove Colombia free trade legislation from the legislative agenda - at least for now.

"We haven't won the final battle against this deal yet but the government has blinked," says Canadian Labour Congress President Ken Georgetti. "We don't want our government to approve a free trade agreement with a country where more labour leaders are killed than in the rest of the world combined."

The Harper government signed the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) in November 2008 and introduced legislation in March to implement the deal. Labour groups and others mounted a strong lobbying and public advocacy campaign against the deal based on Colombia's dismal human rights record. The lobbying effort was focused on opposition politicians. NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs were on side but the 77-member Liberal caucus is divided and the labour lobby worked hard to win over Liberal MPs. The message was that Prime Minister Harper is wrong when he says that the deal will have a positive effect on Colombia's human rights record.

Georgetti says, "Human rights violations against workers in Colombia keep wages miserably low and make the country attractive for foreign investment, especially for Canadian resource extraction companies. Under conditions like these, working families in Colombia will never benefit from the economic activity that might have been generated by trade."

The United Nations calls the situation of displaced people in Colombia the worst human rights crisis in the Americas and second only to Darfur in the world. "Canadians are dismayed that our government wants to do business with a regime in such as this," Georgetti says. "We're going to keep up the pressure on against this legislation for as long as it takes."

With similar deals frozen in the US Congress and the Norwegian Parliament, Canada has become Colombia's primary trade target. President Uribe will be in Canada on June 10-12 and the CLC will be protesting the red carpet welcome to the leader of a regime implicated with the murder of trade union leaders.

CLC-CTC

World Congress for Psychiatric Nursing - Vancouver 2010

Call for Abstracts

Abstracts for papers, posters, workshops, symposia, colloquia, and/or panel presentations and exhibits in keeping with the World Congress theme “Building Global Connections in Psychiatric Nursing” related to psychiatric nursing Clinical, Administration, Research, & Education (C.A.R.E.) are invited.

All abstracts are due by July 31, 2009 and will receive blind review by the Abstracts Review Committee.

Research abstracts must include the study purpose, conceptual framework, methodology, results, discussion and implications. Workshops, symposia, colloquia, panel presentations and position papers are also welcome and the abstract should include purpose, discussion and conclusion.

All presenters must be registered participants for the Congress (reduced registration fee will be offered.)

Confirmation of Presenter Attendance due by August 31, 2009

To be considered, please register and submit your abstract on-line HERE