Although members worked fewer hours for higher rates than the national average, and had generous vacation benefits (five weeks after 10 years of employment and up to nine weeks after 25 years), there was dispute with the provincial government for privatization of in-house support services in BC health authorities.
[2] The Hospital Employees' Union eventually won a related Supreme Court of Canada case in 2007.
[3] The court win led to a negotiated settlement with the provincial government which paid up to $85 million to former HEU members who lost their jobs.
[4] Judy Darcy, elected as provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly for New Westminster in 2013, had been HEU's business manager from 2005 to 2011.
[5][6] HEU also applied in 2015 to be an intervenor in a Supreme Court of Canada case involving the British Columbia Teachers' Federation.