B.C. nurses have rejected a tentative agreement reached with the province’s health employers, sending contract talks back into uncertain territory amid growing frustration over working conditions in the health-care system.
The BC Nurses’ Union said 67 per cent of nurses who voted rejected the deal reached May 22 between the Nurses’ Bargaining Association and B.C.’s health employers.
Union president Adriane Gear said the vote reflects more than dissatisfaction with the terms of a collective agreement.
“For many nurses, this vote was about more than the terms of a collective agreement,” Gear said in a statement. “It is about having agency, about having the opportunity to make their voices heard and express their frustration, their tenacity and absolute resolve for change.”
Gear said nurses care deeply about their patients and their profession, but are making it clear the conditions they are working under cannot continue.
The union said while the rejected agreement included “important gains,” many nurses believe the province and health employers have not done enough to recognize the pressures facing the profession.
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Nurses have been raising concerns about staffing shortages, heavy workloads, crowded emergency departments and growing demands across the health-care system.
“The public sees crowded emergency departments, long waits for care and the challenges facing our health-care system,” Gear said. “Nurses experience those pressures every shift.”
The rejection comes after a strong strike mandate in May, when the union says more than 50,850 nurses voted 98.2 per cent in favour of job action.
The union called that result one of the strongest bargaining mandates in Canadian labour history.
The Nurses’ Bargaining Association represents nurses across the province. The union said members have shown “extraordinary solidarity” during this round of bargaining, as nurses continue to push for improvements to staffing, supports and patient care.
The result of the ratification vote is a message that nurses expect more from government and employers, according to Gear.
“This vote is a powerful message that nurses expect more, not only for themselves, but for the patients and communities they serve,” she said.
The union says its bargaining committee will speak with members in the coming days before deciding its next steps.
No strike action has been announced.
LIBS ALWAYS TREAT TEACHERS AND HEALTHCARE WORKERS LIKE S H I T !!! BIG FACTS ! YET ANAND HANDS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS AWAY LIKE SMARTIES TO EVERY COUNTRY BEGGING FOR HELP.
To anonymous, you cannot have two separate rooms for none emergency and emergency because sometimes gastro problems present like having a heart attack but doctors do not know that until tests are done so where do you put them when they present to YOUR emergency department then?
SO, if they win, nurses that is, expect the cost of ALL YOUR HEALTH CARE NEEDS TO GO UP AGAIN for all the people who live in B.C.. None Union workers should thank UNION WORKERS for always increasing their cost of living in B.C.
I have observed the emergency departments for years. There is a lot of abusive use in this department by cliental that makes the place difficult to manage by the medical personel. It creates a chaotic situation where mistakes could be made.There should be two seperate waiting rooms.# 1 for those requirng immediate attention and # 2 for those that are not life threatening and do not need a bed similar to walk in clinics. Divide the waiting rooms with a wall that does not mix the two together. The triage area would be improved. This is a small suggetion that I would hope could release the pressure on the nurses and other medical staff.
Wow. Wonder how much money is going into things other than the nurses’ purses