At midnight Friday, B.C. nurses will end job action province-wide after accepting the settlement recommendations presented by mediators Amanda Rogers and Vince Ready.
The Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) has found that the non-binding recommendations made by the mediators take into account several of the major concerns that nurses had with the original tentative agreement reached on May 22.
The recommendations also address other issues that nurses raised in their job action, such as workplace violence and the prevalence of nurses performing non-nursing duties.
Related:
“This has been the longest nurses’ strike in B.C.’s history, and it was the collective strength, determination and solidarity of more than 55,000 nurses that brought us to this point,” says BCNU President Adriane Gear.
“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.”
Job action from B.C. nurses has lasted more than three weeks with picket lines at hospitals across the province. Nurses also refused to do non-nurse duties and restricted overtime.
“We are deeply grateful to British Columbians who supported nurses throughout this process,” said Gear.
“You strengthened our resolve and reminded nurses that this fight was never just about us—it was about protecting the future of public health care in British Columbia.”
The recommendations from the mediators are now in front of nurses for their review.