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June 15, 1998
Employer reveals shocking statistics showing steep jump in casualization, decline in full time positions
At the beginning of the latest round of nurses' bargaining, HEABC produced documents revealing a dramatic increase in the casualization of nurses' work, and a corresponding cut in the amount of full-time, regular employment.
BCNU had requested the information to support our call for the creation of more full-time positions, including the creation of regular float positions and an opportunity for part-time employees to increase their FTE before additional part-time positions are created.
The HEABC figures show that since 1992 the number of BCNU full-time paid hours has declined from 60 per cent of all paid hours to only 52 per cent, a cut of some eight per cent. At the same time the number of BCNU casual hours has jumped from 15 to 20 per cent (up 5 per cent) and the number of part-time hours has climbed from 25 to 28 per cent (up 3 per cent). In many large facilities, the percentage of casual and part-time hours is much higher.
No other health care union has experienced a drop of anything near this magnitude in full-time employment, nor a corresponding jump in casualization. BCNU believes this trend for nursing is extremely harmful for the quality of patient care. The increased reliance on casuals is making many young people reluctant to enter the nursing profession, and is forcing new grads to seek employment in the United States, thereby exacerbating the current, growing nursing shortage. This escalating casualization increases our workload and increases demands on us to work overtime. We are determined to reverse this trend at the bargaining table.
The recent bargaining sessions also dealt at some length with our proposal for pay equity. The Nurses' Bargaining Association is proposing a 1 per cent pay equity adjustment each year, until the current 17 per cent wage gap with comparable male professional occupations is eliminated. HEABC is considering our model.
The Nurses' Association also proposed protection for whistle-blowers, so that nurses can advocate for public safety and safe nursing practice, without fear of discipline or harassment.
HEABC expressed concern that some RNs would go public with information before utilizing internal processes which are currently in place. BCNU assured HEABC that this would occur only as a last resort when all other avenues of communication and resolution have failed.
The next dates scheduled for bargaining are for the week of June.
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