BC nurses picket Vancouver General Hospital as strike escalates over pay and working conditions
The BC Nurses' Union will maintain essential services but continue refusing non-essential overtime as 98.2 per cent of nearly 51,000 nurses voted in favour of job actions.
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The BC Nurses' Union is escalating its job action by putting pickets around Vancouver General Hospital, the province's largest hospital, starting July 8.
The union will maintain essential services to protect patient safety, but continue its provincewide refusal of all non-essential overtime hours and non-nursing duties. The announcement comes after 98.2 per cent of almost 51,000 nurses voted in favour of job actions and after 67 per cent of members rejected a tentative agreement.
Union president Adriane Gear says nurses don't want to be on the picket line, but the provincial government can no longer ignore the demands of the health-care system. Chief executive officer Jim Gould echoed the point: "This government is not going to solve the nursing shortage without making serious improvements to nurses' working conditions." He called on the provincial government to come to the table with an offer that respects nurses' concerns.
The picket marks a significant escalation in the job action that began when members voted five days earlier.
