But the picket line remains at Surrey Memorial Hospital and new ones are planned for Vancouver Island.<\/p>\n
The B.C. government has stepped in as nurses continue to step up job action in key areas of the province.<\/p>\n
Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside has appointed veteran labour mediator Vince Ready and\u00a0Amanda Rogers as special mediators in the dispute between the Health Employers Association of B.C. (HEABC) and the BC Nurses’ Union.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The province says\u00a0it remains committed to collective bargaining, adding that negotiated agreements are best reached at the bargaining table.<\/p>\n
The union also reacted to the province’s\u00a0appointments\u00a0to help resolve the dispute.<\/p>\n
In an interview, BCNU president Adriane Gear says\u00a0her union\u00a0first learned of the appointment through news outlets rather than directly from the government, calling the process \u201cfrustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, she says the appointment is a positive step and a sign the union’s job action is having an impact.<\/p>\n
“Overall, is it a positive development? Yes,” Gear says. “However, there’s no indication that the government is moving off their imposed mandate.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Gear also confirmed the\u00a0BCNU 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.<\/p>\n
“Our members … they’re not backing down. Everyone is very united on this issue,” Gear adds.<\/p>\n
She says supporters have started to gather at picket lines, leaving food and coffee, and expressing support with honks and messages.<\/p>\n
Nurses’ union picket goes down at VGH<\/p>\n