Nurses in B.C. are set to escalate job action next week, their union announced Friday evening, one day after targeted action began.
The B.C. Nurses’ Union (BCNU) said a picket line is planned to begin at Vancouver General Hospital on Tuesday, July 7 at 5:30 a.m. PT, but essential services like emergency care will be maintained to protect patient safety.
Union president Adriane Gear said nurses do not want to be on picket lines.
“We are in this profession to care for patients,” Gear said in a statement.
“But the provincial government and health employers can no longer ignore the demands of our health-care system, nor can they disregard the incredible pressure nurses face day in and day out.”
CBC News reached out to the union for comment on Friday evening.
B.C. nurses begin job action, employer agrees to resume negotiations
The announcement comes one day into overtime restrictions and a ban on non-nursing duties — including cleaning and delivering meals — for members of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA), after the 12 p.m. deadline passed Thursday without further progress on a new contact.
The health-care workers are looking for a pay increase and mitigation of pressures like unsafe staffing levels and workplace violence, among other things.
In the statement, BCNU CEO Jim Gould said the government needs to return to the table with “an offer that respects nurses” and recognizes their value.
“This government is not going to solve the nursing shortage without making serious improvements to nurses’ working conditions,” Gould said.
He added that the union will not tolerate attempts by employers to threaten or intimidate members participating in lawful job action.
B.C. nurses rally against workplace violence
The union, which represents about 60,000 nurses throughout the province, hasn’t had formal negotiations with the Health Employers Association of B.C. (HEABC) since May, when they reached a tentative deal with health employers on a new collective agreement.
Earlier that month, nurses had voted 98.2 per cent in favour of strike action due to stalled contract talks with the HEABC.
That tentative deal was rejected the following month.
B.C. nurses reject tentative deal with province
On Thursday, less than an hour after the job action began, HEABC said in a statement that it and the NBA have agreed to return to negotiations next week.
The union says nurses will be back at the bargaining table with health employers on Monday.
