Striking nurses held a mass solidarity picket on July 7 at Vancouver General Hospital. Hundreds of nurses attended, some still wearing their scrubs from a previous or upcoming shift. They were joined by members and leaders from several unions, including BCGEU, CUPE, SEIU, HSA, HEU, TSSU and the BC Federation of Labour.
The mood was defiant and hopeful, with many nurses carrying personalized signs that made the connection between nurses’ working conditions and quality of patient care. This message clearly resonates with the public as many passing cars honked.
Resounding vote to strike
This May, almost 51,000 of roughly 55,000 unionized BC nurses voted 98.2 percent in favour of job action, after six months of bargaining with the BC government’s representatives. BCNU president Adriane Gear made it clear that this result was due to ‘frustrating’ lack of gains at the bargaining table.
Then in June, BC nurses rejected the province’s offer of 12 percent over four years. This offer followed the pattern from deals struck with teachers and other public sector workers. Lack of progress in bargaining since then led nurses to issue a 72 hour strike notice on June 29, and to begin job action July 2.
Crisis in healthcare
Why did nurses reject this offer? Nurses in the province have long been sounding the alarm about crowded hospitals, understaffed facilities, and workplace violence in BC healthcare. In the statement accompanying their online petition, the BCNU explains that the provincial government is not prioritizing improvements to nurses’ working conditions that would support their work caring for patients and would help retain much-needed nurses.
BC has also had a severe nursing shortage for years and currently has more than 4,500 nursing vacancies. Nurses stated that significant improvements to their working conditions are needed, or else filling those positions will be next to impossible. The province’s most recent offer failed to address these valid concerns.
Private sector band-aid solution
Nurses are also frustrated by the province’s increased reliance on contract nursing, where the government health authorities use private nursing agencies to fill nursing vacancies. Nurses quite rightly feel that the government should be spending that money on filling the more than 4,000 vacant nursing positions, rather than wasting money on a temporary fix via the private sector.
“Where my members are frustrated is that the government and the employer can’t find money for retaining the nurses that they have,” said BCNU president Adriane Gear. “However, they will pay for privatized nursing services with taxpayers’ dollars at a very inflated cost.”
Work-to-Rule
Since nurses are an essential service, they of course cannot fully withdraw their services during job action. Instead, nurses have instituted a work-to rule campaign. Nurses have stopped performing non-nursing duties such as those of clerks, technologists, laboratory workers and support staff.
Since nurses ceased non-nursing duties, union reps have heard from nurses that employers are threatening nurses who refuse these duties with discipline, and pressuring them to continue doing this work. This is happening despite the fact that this withdrawal of services is covered as part of legal job action.
The fact that ceasing to perform these duties causes such a shock to the healthcare system illustrates what nurses have been saying for over a decade; that they are being asked to fill the gaps in an under-resourced system. No wonder this leads to burnout of nursing staff. Nurses have also limited non-essential overtime as part of their strike.
This may have an even bigger impact on the healthcare system, but this again is the result of decades of underfunding; nurses should not be criticized for the disruptions that may occur during their strike. Nurses are the canaries in the healthcare system coal mine here!
NDP’s priorities
The BC nurses strike is happening the same week that NDP Premier David Eby is celebrating his agreement with Prime Minister Carney to add twelve more submarines to Canada’s military base in Esquimault, BC. The cost? One hundred billion dollars. There seems to always be money for military spending, but not for our healthcare system and the overworked and under-appreciated nurses who keep it running.
The BC NDP have pushed nurses into this strike and they could easily end it by properly funding our healthcare system. Instead they continue to choose to pour more public resources into the private sector via private nursing agencies. Our nurses and our public healthcare system deserve so much better.
Want to do something concrete to support BC nurses? The Vancouver General Hospital picket line will be up until further notice, and the Surrey Memorial Hospital picket line will be up starting Thursday, July 9. Nurses would appreciate a visit! You can also sign their online petition for better healthcare funding here.
Author
Did you like this article? Help us produce more like it by donating $1, $2, or $5. Donate
