The union representing B.C. nurses called off a province-wide strike on Friday afternoon, announcing it had accepted mediator recommendations after more than three weeks of job action. A tentative deal was accepted on May 22, but members of the B.C. Nurses’ Union later voted 67 per cent against the deal. A 72-hour strike notice was issued on June 29, marking the start of the longest nursing strike in B.C.’s history, the union said. Job action continued across the province for weeks, seeing union members picket in front of multiple hospitals. On July 10, the union announced that special mediator Vince Ready was stepping in to assist with negotiations, ultimately culminating in the BCNU’s bargaining team accepting non-binding recommendations from Ready and special mediator Amanda Rogers on Friday. The union said these recommendations address some of the major concerns that caused members to vote against the last tentative deal—including systemic issues like workplace violence, and “the prevalence of nurses performing non-nursing duties which continue to pull them away from patient care.” While continuing to work and provide essential care through job action, BCNU members enforced a refusal of these non-nursing duties, and restricted overtime, both of which were within their right as part of lawful job action, the union said. “It was the collective strength, determination and solidarity of more than 55,000 nurses that brought us to this point,” said BCNU president Adriane Gear, in a statement. “Our members changed the conversation by forcing government and health employers to confront the realities of nursing and the challenges facing our public health-care system.” The BCNU added that outstanding compensation issues are expected to be negotiated in binding arbitration this fall. Members will have the opportunity to review the recommendations over the coming days, the union added, noting it won’t comment further on the substance of the recommendations.
