The BC Nurses’ Union (BCNU) says it has issued a 72-hour strike notice.
On June 19, members voted 67 per cent to reject a tentative agreement reached by the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) and B.C.’s health employers.
“Nurses do not want to take job action. We entered this profession to care for patients,” the BCNU said.
“But after years of chronic short staffing, workplace violence, and mounting pressures across the health-care system, nurses have made it clear that the status quo can no longer continue.”
Union president Adriane Gear says the nurses will be in a legal position to strike on Thursday if no progress is made in negotiations.
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Gear says the strike notice is a demand for nurses to be heard and valued, as they are facing increasing safety and burnout issues.
She says job action could be anything from an overtime ban to a large-scale withdrawal of services, excluding those that have already been designated as essential.
In a post on social media, the union says 50,850 nurses participated in the strike vote, with 98.2 per cent voting in favour.
More information about the next steps will be released as it becomes available, it says.
— With files from The Canadian Press