More than 50,000 nurses have voted 98.2 percent in favour of job action, delivering a powerful and historic mandate that underscores the urgency of securing a fair collective agreement.

“This vote is a defining moment,” says BC Nurses’ Union President and Chair of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) provincial bargaining committee Adriane Gear. “Nurses across British Columbia are demanding the respect, safety and fair contract they deserve.”

The strike vote, which took place May 8 – 11, follows six months of bargaining in which nurses brought forward many solutions to address the quality of patient care British Columbians receive, only to see the majority of those proposals rejected by the Health Employers Association of BC. From crushing workloads to unsafe staffing levels, workplace violence and occupational health and safety concerns, the bargaining committee has been focusing on resolving systemic risks which undermine nurses’ ability to provide the care they are qualified to provide. The NBA provincial bargaining committee declared impasse April 20 after formal negotiations broke down.

“Nurses do not want to be in this position,” says Gear. “Yet they are prepared to fight for the future of nursing and for a health-care system that is safe, sustainable and able to retain the nurses that patients rely on.”

While work continues towards full implementation of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, progress remains challenged by the thousands of nursing vacancies that exist across the province.

“Nurses need a contract that respects the critical role they play in keeping this health-care system running,” Gear says. “This is about securing the best possible contract that will retain and recruit the nurses the system needs now and in the future. Now is not the time to take away from nurses.”

This resounding outcome gives the NBA provincial bargaining committee the leverage needed to push for meaningful progress at the bargaining table and affirms that nurses are now in legal position to take job action.