B.C. nurses reject tentative agreement with health employers
B.C. nurses have rejected a tentative agreement reached with the province’s health employers, sending contract talks back into uncertain territory amid growing frustration over working conditions in the health-care system.
The BC Nurses’ Union said 67 per cent of nurses who voted rejected the deal reached May 22 between the Nurses’ Bargaining Association and B.C.’s health employers.
Union president Adriane Gear said the vote reflects more than dissatisfaction with the terms of a collective agreement.
“For many nurses, this vote was about more than the terms of a collective agreement,” Gear said in a statement. “It is about having agency, about having the opportunity to make their voices heard and express their frustration, their tenacity and absolute resolve for change.”
Gear said nurses care deeply about their patients and their profession, but are making it clear the conditions they are working under cannot continue.
The union said while the rejected agreement included “important gains,” many nurses believe the province and health employers have not done enough to recognize the pressures facing the profession.
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Nurses have been raising concerns about staffing shortages, heavy workloads, crowded emergency departments and growing demands across the health-care system.
“The public sees crowded emergency departments, long waits for care and the challenges facing our health-care system,” Gear said. “Nurses experience those pressures every shift.”
The rejection comes after a strong strike mandate in May, when the union says more than 50,850 nurses voted 98.2 per cent in favour of job action.
The union called that result one of the strongest bargaining mandates in Canadian labour history.
The Nurses’ Bargaining Association represents nurses across the province. The union said members have shown “extraordinary solidarity” during this round of bargaining, as nurses continue to push for improvements to staffing, supports and patient care.
The result of the ratification vote is a message that nurses expect more from government and employers, according to Gear.
“This vote is a powerful message that nurses expect more, not only for themselves, but for the patients and communities they serve,” she said.
The union says its bargaining committee will speak with members in the coming days before deciding its next steps.
No strike action has been announced.
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