But the picket line remains at Surrey Memorial Hospital and new ones are planned for Vancouver Island.
The B.C. government has stepped in as nurses continue to step up job action in key areas of the province.
Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside has appointed veteran labour mediator Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers as special mediators in the dispute between the Health Employers Association of B.C. (HEABC) and the BC Nurses’ Union.
Mediators will stay in contact with both sides for 10 days to attempt to find a mutually agreeable solution. If no agreement is reached, they will submit recommendations to the minister and both parties on how to resolve the dispute.
The province says it remains committed to collective bargaining, adding that negotiated agreements are best reached at the bargaining table.
The union also reacted to the province’s appointments to help resolve the dispute.
In an interview, BCNU president Adriane Gear says her union first learned of the appointment through news outlets rather than directly from the government, calling the process “frustrating.”
Still, she says the appointment is a positive step and a sign the union’s job action is having an impact.
“Overall, is it a positive development? Yes,” Gear says. “However, there’s no indication that the government is moving off their imposed mandate.”
Gear adds that BCNU is prepared to board the mediation train, but is not optimistic that any agreement can be reached unless the province allows health employers more flexibility at the bargaining table.
Gear also confirmed the BCNU is prepared to continue job action “as long as it takes,” saying nurses remain united and have received strong support from other health-care unions, labour organizations and members of the public.
“Our members … they’re not backing down. Everyone is very united on this issue,” Gear adds.
She says supporters have started to gather at picket lines, leaving food and coffee, and expressing support with honks and messages.
Nurses’ union picket goes down at VGH
Gear says the union has paused its picket line at Vancouver General Hospital, which came down at 7 p.m. Wednesday, while the Surrey Memorial Hospital picket line remains in place. She says no decision has been made on how long the Surrey picket will continue.
BCNU says more picket lines are scheduled across Vancouver Island.
Pickets are scheduled to start at Victoria General Hospital Sunday (July 12), at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Monday (July 13), and at Royal Jubilee Hospital and the South Island Surgical Centre on Tuesday (July 14). Essential services will remain operational during the job action.
The union says that the latest escalation comes after stalled progress in negotiations and a lack of authority for health employers to move beyond the provincial government’s current bargaining mandate.
BCNU also says it has received numerous complaints from members alleging intimidation related to participating in lawful job action since July 2. The union filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the B.C. Labour Relations Board in response.
Gear says the provincial government can resolve the dispute by providing health employers with a bargaining mandate that addresses nurse retention and public health care.
BCNU has also launched a public advocacy campaign, Make Health Care Better, encouraging British Columbians to contact their local MLA and urge the provincial government to support a collective agreement that addresses nurses’ concerns.
Messages submitted through the campaign are also sent to Premier David Eby, Health Minister Josie Osborne and Official Opposition health critic Anna Kindy.