Communique

Musqueam Territory – Vancouver, British Columbia – The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) have celebrated renewal of their collective agreement after seven months of renegotiations. The renewal signing ceremony took place at the Musqueam Cultural Centre and included senior leadership and representatives from the FNHA and PIPSC. All negotiations for the agreement took place on First Nations land and included Elders supporting the work with prayer, wisdom and input.

"We want to thank our partner the Professional Institute for their collaboration and being open again to including First Nations Elders in this work and incorporating First Nations perspectives into the agreement," said Joe Gallagher, CEO of the FNHA. "I want to raise my hands to team members on both sides for the commitment to working together in a good way for the interest of First Nations peoples and our organizations. We are always better together."

This collective agreement is unique in that it incorporates First Nations perspectives, values and sensibilities, as did the negotiations. The original agreement signed in 2015 was a milestone as one of the first collective agreements of its kind in Canada.

"We are proud to be a part of the renewal of this historic agreement between our members and the First Nations Health Authority because of the incredible work that both parties did in incorporating First Nations-based principles and practices to negotiations," said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. "We felt there was a genuine effort to work together and both sides were guided by the objectives they serve: good jobs in healthy communities. We look forward to continuing this approach through the life of this agreement and beyond."

The group included traditional approaches to conflict management and resolution into the new collective agreement. The parties engaged in an interest-based collaborative approach to reaching the agreement, fostering a meaningful relationship to build on for all future discussions.

The terms of the Collective Agreement are from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020.