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B.C. nurses are beginning job action after their Thursday 12 p.m. strike deadline passed without movement on a new contract.
While the union doesn’t plan to withdraw workers, the deadline marks the start of overtime restrictions and a ban on non-nursing duties.
“Nurses don’t want to be in this position. We want to be caring for patients,” the B.C. Nurses’ Union said in a social media post announcing the job action.
Less than an hour after the start of job action, the Health Employers Association of B.C. (HEABC) released a statement saying it and the Nurses’ Bargaining Association have agreed to return to negotiations next week.
It added that the province has essential service orders in place “to prevent immediate and serious danger to the health of the public during any job action.”
The B.C. Nurses’ Union (BCNU) said it welcomes a return to the bargaining table.
“We’ve been willing to meet at any point all along, including as job action continues,” reads an emailed statement.
The union, which represents 60,000 British Columbia nurses, hasn’t had formal negotiations with HEABC since May. Earlier this week, it issued a 72-hour strike notice after its members voted to reject a tentative contract deal.
The health-care workers are looking for a pay increase and prevention of violence in the workplace, among other things.
“We’ve been holding the system together for years. And despite, you know, sort of promises that things will change … [and] initiatives put in place to reduce the level of violence that nurses experience, the burnout, the injuries, none of that’s come to fruition,” BCNU president Adriane Gear told CBC’s On The Island Thursday morning, ahead of the strike deadline.
“Something has to give … at a minimum, nurses can be compensated better.”
Refusing non-nursing duties
Amid a shortage of health-care workers, nurses frequently carry out duties that don’t require professional nursing certification, Gear said.
As part of a legal strike, the nurses can refuse to do that work.
That includes things like transporting patients, running to the blood bank to pick up blood, handing out meal trays, cleaning, emptying laundry, answering phones and taking physician orders verbally, Gear said.
She said those duties will now fall on other staff and management.
Health services still available
Health Minister Josie Osborne was unavailable for an interview but in an emailed statement said she respects the right of nurses to strike and, out of respect for the sensitivity of the negotiations, she wants to give both parties “space.”
She also said residents will still have access to health services.
“People will continue to get the health care they need. The Labour Board has robust processes in place to thoughtfully set what constitutes an essential service,” she said.
A statement from the ministry said residents should continue to visit emergency departments, local health clinics, including urgent and primary care centres (UPCCs), and their primary care providers as needed.