B.C. nurses picketed at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Monday as talks were set to begin with a special mediator to help resolve the ongoing labour dispute.
The B.C. Nurses’ Union began job action July 2 and said members would no longer perform non-nursing duties, such as cleaning and answering phones, and would refuse non-essential overtime.
“The issues that are faced by nurses here are faced by all nurses, whether you are a nurse from Comox, Port Alberni, Port Hardy, Victoria,” said BCNU President Adriane Gear on the picket line. “The struggles are real, and they are the same wherever we go in this province.”
Gear told people on the picket line that the appointment of a mediator had created an opportunity and called on the province to listen to nurses, respect them and invest in retaining nurses.
A veteran mediator, Vince Ready, has been appointed to help resolve the dispute between the province and the union.
During the job action, nurses are required to maintain essential service levels. Gear said nurses in B.C. hospitals often operate below those levels.
“Every day, health employers think nothing of leaving nurses working incredibly short staffed to the point where it is impacting the delivery of patient care, our safety and patient safety,” she said. “When we are in a legal job action situation, which we are now, we are obligated to maintain essential service levels. So in theory, in some instances, the staffing the union is required to ensure is higher than it is on any other given day.”
She said the biggest impact is on elective surgeries and procedures.
Gear said she would be in Vancouver Monday afternoon to meet with the bargaining team and anticipated meeting with the mediator.
