UPDATE: 3:15 p.m.- The BC Nurses Union will pause job action, effective at the end of Tuesday, July 14, after confirming mediated bargaining between the Nurses’ Bargaining Association and the Health Employers Association of BC is now underway.
EARLIER TODAY: NANAIMO — Strained resources, workplace safety, burnout and wages are key issues nurses want addressed as picket lines have been set up in Nanaimo.
An estimated 300 health professionals, including nurses and other unionized health professionals, began picketing in front of Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Boundary Ave. on the morning of Monday, July 13.
As a result of the job action, some appointments and non-urgent surgeries in and around Nanaimo hospital are experiencing cancellations or postponements, including at the nearby Central Island Surgical Centre on Seafield Cres.
Island Health has an updated service alerts page on its website, outlining numerous service disruptions for Monday, July 13, and in some cases, potentially future dates.
The NRGH emergency department remains open, however, wait times could be longer than usual, Island Health noted.
Despite the job action by striking nurses, legislated essential service levels remain in place.
Stroke and heart function appointments beginning on Monday are among services being rescheduled.
Located one block from NRGH, non-urgent surgeries and procedures at Central Island Surgical Centre may be affected.
Speaking to NanaimoNewsNOW, BC Nurses’ Union (BCNU) president Adriane Gear said launching job action on Vancouver Island is by design, pointing to documented cases of retaliation against NRGH nurses for withdrawing non-nursing duties.
“That was designed to have an impact on the employer, and what many employers have done is they have turned that on nurses, and they have threatened to make complaints to our regulatory college. We’re licensed professionals; we need a license. So, we see that as retaliation against nurses who are participating in lawful job action. That is our constitutional right, and for that reason, that is part of why we’ve had to escalate.”
While she didn’t have the number of complaints filed by NRGH nurses allegedly harassed by their employer, she stated more than 2,300 such complaints have been made province-wide recently.
It’s unclear how long the job action will impact NRGH and the Central Island Surgical Centre.
Nurses don’t know how long they’ll be picketing outside Nanaimo hospital.
Gear said B.C. experiences between 4,500 and 6,000 permanent nursing vacancies at any given time.
Physical violence and psychological injuries impacting B.C.’s nurses are increasing and need to be addressed, Gear said, adding younger nurses are leaving the profession early as a result.
“We have nurses that are nearing or at retirement age, that if the conditions of work were better, they would stay. We’re losing them. We’re losing mid-career nurses, and so something has to happen.”
A non-binding mediation process between the Health Employers Association of BC and BCNU is expected to start early this week and last approximately 10 days.
Escalating job action follows nurses overwhelmingly rejecting a tentative contract last month, which covers 60,000 members.
Brokering a new contract for the province’s nurses transpires as the Premier David Eby-led B.C. government grapples with a record projected $13.3 billion budget deficit this year, and a nearly $37 billion combined deficit over the next three fiscal years.
— with files from Jordan Davidson
Streams of sympathetic motorists honked in support of striking BCNU members on Monday, July 13 in front of NRGH. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)
Supporters from other unions and the general public joined nurses outside of NRGH on Monday morning. (Image Credit: Submitted/Dave Bodaly)
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