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October 1, 1998
The Nurses' Bargaining Committee needs your help
With negotiations slow and painful, your representatives at the bargaining table feel we have no choice but to ask for a strike vote to press the employers to deal fairly with nurses. The workplace vote will take place on October 14
During more than six months of negotiations, your bargaining committee has been trying to convince our employers that nurses need solutions to our workload crisis, and that we need improved working conditions to attract nurses and keep nurses working effectively in the profession. We have also argued repeatedly that the Health Employers' Association of BC (HEABC) must drop its concession demands. Regrettably, the employers have chosen to dig in and reject proposals to resolve our concerns.
Nurses' negotiators have been seeking solutions
BCNU has been proposing solutions to the workload crisis faced by nurses every day in acute care, long term care and in the community. We have given the employers the results of our scientific poll of nurses conducted by McIntyre & Mustel Ltd. It shows that deteriorating working conditions are having a devastating effect on our members' ability to meet RNABC standards of patient care.
We have tried to convince the employers that if left unchecked, the situation will increase disillusionment and burnout, and make it increasingly difficult to attract and keep young people in the nursing profession when the skills of Registered Nurses are needed more than ever.
Employers are still stonewalling on language issues
We have moved on to discussing money issues, because the employers have refused to negotiate with creativity and imagination on the important contract language issues that form the basis for any fair and positive collective agreement. We have said we will return to the outstanding language issues later in negotiations. HEABC concedes that few of the outstanding contract language issues will cost a penny. Many will actually save the employers money. But they refuse to give up any authority, or concede that front-line nurses might be in a better position than managers or bureaucrats to judge what's best for patients, or what's needed to meet our professional standards.
Strong strike vote is needed to pressure employers
Given HEABC's attitude to the non-cost proposals, there's little hope for bargaining now that we have turned to issues that will cost money. Those issues include our proposals for ratios of RNs to residents in long term care, for the right to call-in extra staff in acute care and the community, for equalizing all nurses to the provincial standard, for pay equity, for improved long term disability and OH&S, for car allowances, for improved on-call, in-charge and shift premiums unless we have a strong strike mandate.
| Employers' concession demands |
| HEABC still demands the right to: |
- assign nurses to different worksites
- keep nurses working with provisions inferior to the provincial standard
- eliminate designated days off and overtime pay for working on a day off for part-timers
- reduce the dental plan to cover only one check-up a year
- increase the probationary period for everyone to 468 hours worked
- reduce the impact of seniority in selections for postings
- eliminate guaranteed weekends off for regular employees
- eliminate certain extra days off
- eliminate WCB top-up
- require diagnosis and prognosis in proof of sickness and require an independent medical examination
- exclude new hires from the medical plan for three months
- exclude call-back provisions for casuals and exclude telephone consultations from call-backs
- decimate casual call-in by seniority
- eliminate in-charge pay for a nurse in charge if a supervisor is accessible within a reasonable time frame
- cap vacation days at the 20 year entitlement
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Employers talk efficiency, but walk in a different direction
Employers insist their prime concern is to improve patient care and efficiency at a time of recession and tight budgets. But their actions at the table demonstrate the opposite. For example, HEABC insists the nurses' contract continue to require the use of expensive three-person arbitration panels to resolve contract disputes. Nurses are proposing the contract require simply a single arbitrator, the same provision currently in HSA's paramedical agreement, which generates far fewer arbitrations. HEABC says outright that it can assert more control over the process with the more expensive, less efficient option.
Similarly, to better serve our members and monitor how nurses are being used within the health care system, BCNU has requested that employers provide the nursing unions with a computerized list of all our members every three months. The employers responded that would involve too much staff time. In response, the nurses' bargaining team pared the request to only once a year. HEABC countered that even once a year would be too expensive. In a continuing effort to reach a solution, BCNU offered to pay the employers' costs. HEABC still refused to agree. Again, the real issue is one of control. HEABC does not want employees to have access to information.
HEABC also refuses to allow part-time employees the opportunity to increase their FTE before another part-time position is created. HEABC is taking that position even though our proposal would save employers the cost of a second set of benefits. Again, the issue appears to be control.
Bargaining Committee appeals for support
In order to make any progress in the face of this employer position, your bargaining committee needs your support. On October 14 nurses will have an opportunity to give HEABC a message. A positive strike vote is the only way nurses will achieve a fair and reasonable contract at the bargaining table this year.
| Agreed items |
- continued funding for the Healthcare Labour Adjustment Agency
- some definitions
- pension accrual while on unpaid leave
- requirements of work schedules and definition of overtime for employees working flexible schedules
- pay for actual hours worked at daylight savings/standard time changes
- process for classifying new and changed positions and a memorandum of classification manual
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| Unresolved nurses' language proposals |
- the creation of regular float positions
- definition of a block of casual work
- penalty for cancellation of casual work
- the ability of part-timers to increase their FTE before another part-time position is created
- the provision of regular status and equal benefits for temporary positions
- call-in of part-timers by seniority
- protection against harassment and whistleblower protection
- standardized criteria for filling vacancies
- integrating language for community-based nurses into the rest of the collective agreement
- requirement for the union to receive computerized membership data
- criteria for short-call of casuals
- merged seniority lists for RNs and RPNs in the Nurses’ Bargaining Association
- dual vacancy postings for RNs and RPNs
- employer respect for inter-union jurisdictional agreement
- regular status for eligible client-specific nurses
- insufficient notice of shift change, on-call and call-back provisions for client specific nurses
- the use of single arbitrators versus three-person panels
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