New picket lines went up Thursday at Surrey Memorial Hospital and the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre, with more expected on Vancouver Island this weekend. The expansion follows stalled negotiations between the province and the B.C. Nurses' Union (BCNU).
Strike action expands after breakdown of talks
Following a breakdown of negotiations, the BCNU announced it would begin picketing Surrey Memorial Hospital on Thursday and prepare to erect picket lines at three Vancouver Island hospitals this weekend. The union represents more than 60,000 nurses across the province.
“We have reached a critical point in this dispute,” said BCNU president Adriane Gear. “Nurses have bargained in good faith” while participating in limited strike action with a ban on overtime and non-nursing duties, she added.
Gear called on the provincial government to act: “The provincial government can end this dispute. It can provide health employers with a mandate that retains nurses, strengthens public health care and prevents further disruption.”
Reports of intimidation prompt unfair labour practice case
The expansion of strike action is also spurred by reports from nurses of workplace intimidation for participating in limited job action. Since July 2, more than 2,300 reports have been received by members who say they were intimidated, coerced, or threatened with discipline and warnings for not performing non-nursing duties.
As a result, the BCNU has filed an unfair labour practice case with the B.C. Labour Relations Board to halt employer interference of job action.
Under the B.C. Labour Relations Code, employees are legally allowed to strike if bargaining has broken down, a strike vote has been conducted, and a majority of members support strike action. In a strike vote held this spring, 98.2 per cent of nurses supported job action.
Rejected contract offer and ongoing negotiations
The Health Employers Association and the Nurses Bargaining Association went back to the bargaining table, resulting in a proposal that was later rejected by 67 per cent of nurses. According to the union, while the tentative agreement included bumps to benefits and shift premiums, nurses felt it fell short in terms of a general wage increase.
The rejected agreement had offered a 12 per cent wage increase over four years — the figure accepted by other public sector unions — as well as additional funding to improve minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.
Picket line locations and essential services
In addition to Surrey Memorial, a picket line also went up Thursday at the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey. On Sunday, nurses will begin picketing Victoria General Hospital, followed by Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Monday, and Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital and South Island Surgical Centre on Tuesday.
Gear said essential services would continue to be performed by nurses during the strike and that urgent and emergency care would continue. “Nurses do not want to be on picket lines, and we do not want patients to experience disruption,” she said, adding that “every effort has been made to avoid reaching this point.”
“But when bargaining reaches an impasse, employers say they cannot move beyond the government’s mandate, and nurses are intimidated for exercising their legal rights, we have no choice but to increase the pressure.”
The bargaining association represents more than 60,000 nurses in hospitals, long-term care, community and public health, and other settings across the province. The union said more than 50,000 nurses turned out for the strike vote in May.
