Support striking BC nurses

On July 2, members of the British Columbia Nurses’ Union (BCNU) hit the picket lines to ensure everyone in their province benefits from a stronger public health-care system. The union is maintaining essential service levels, but refusing all non-essential overtime hours and non-nursing duties, except in areas affected by wildfires.

“When nurses began job action, we did so knowing this would not be an easy road,” BCNU President Adriane Gear wrote in a powerful message to her members. “We took this step because every other avenue had been exhausted and the issues facing our profession had become impossible to ignore.”

Historic vote

After a historic province-wide strike vote that saw 98.2 per cent of the almost 52,000 members who participated opt for job action, a tentative agreement was reached with BC health employers. While that agreement saw improvements to benefits and shift premiums, 67 per cent of members rejected it, making it clear it didn’t go far enough in addressing nurses’ core concerns, including a meaningful general wage increase and solutions to improve nurse retention and workplace safety (like Ontario, BC has endured a severe nursing shortage for years and currently has more than 4,500 nursing vacancies).

While the BC government appointed special mediators on July 10, a positive step that prompted BCNU to temporarily suspend their picket lines, Gear emphasizes that only happened because the action of thousands of nurses made it impossible for them and employers to continue ignoring the issues driving this dispute.

ONA support

Support for BCNU has been strong, with nurses from unions across Canada and around the world, including ONA, sending messages of solidarity; labour allies rallying around them; and thousands of people joining their letter-writing campaign, visiting picket lines with coffee, food and signs, honking their horns, and emailing words of encouragement.

In fact, we’re optimistic that the 90 per cent of ONA members bound by the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, which applies a blanket ban on any form of job action for all nurses and health-care professionals working in hospitals and LTC homes, will also have the opportunity to take lawful job action in the future, thanks to the Charter challenge we launched against that regressive legislation last May.

We encourage all members to show your support for our sisters and brothers out west by watching and liking our video of solidarity on Facebook and Instagram and visiting BCNU’s Facebook page and website.