The BC Nurses’ Union (BCNU) says members are picketing at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) Tuesday morning as part of ongoing job action while they wait for a new contract.
The union began the first phase of job action at 12:01 p.m. July 2, with BCNU president Adriane Gear saying this came after members had not had a “meaningful response” from health employers since issuing a 72-hour-strike notice June 29.
Tuesday’s picketing comes as the BCNU says members are reporting being intimidated by their employer.
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“Since job action began late last week, BCNU has received more than 1,400 reports from nurses across British Columbia describing what the union says are attempts by health employers to intimidate members and interfere with their legal right to participate in job action,” the union said in a news release.
“Nurses have come forward to say they are being threatened with discipline, warned their professional licences could be at risk, and pressured to perform non-nursing duties or work unauthorized overtime despite the union’s lawful job action directives.”
The union is calling on the province to intervene.
Most recently, nurses shot down a tentative deal that was reached after agreeing to strike back in May.
Picketing is set to escalate to Surrey Memorial Hospital and the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Thursday, a spokesperson tells 1130 NewsRadio.
We have reached out to the Ministry of Health for more information.
— With files from Sonia Aslam