 |
Nurses unveil plans for election campaign
BC nurses today unveiled plans to make their influence felt during the provincial election campaign.
"We are a non-partisan organization, and do not support any political party, but Registered Nurses represent about one in every 75 voters in BC," says Debra McPherson, president of the BC Nurses’s Union. "We can have real influence by publicizing what the parties and candidates have to say about the major issues confronting nurses and the health care system."
Major elements of the nurses’ election plan include:
A pledge card for all candidates to sign, committing them to support globally competitive wages and premiums for BC nurses, progressive changes in the health employers’ bargaining structure, expansion of nursing education, and a commitment to free collective bargaining.
A series of all-candidates meetings to discuss nursing and other health care issues.
A special issue of the BCNU Update magazine on the BC election, which contains responses from the parties to a nurses’ questionnaire, and suggestions on what nurses can do to make their influence felt in the campaign.
Part of the BCNU website www.bcnu.org dedicated to the provincial election.
|
"What we’re saying today is that throughout this election campaign, nurses will be in the faces of the politicians to promote our issues. We will be seeking specific commitments from the candidates about what they will do if elected to address the key problem facing BC’s health care system: the nursing shortage and the need for globally competitive wages to address it, so BC can retain and recruit the Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses needed to provide quality health care to the people of the province." says BCNU president Debra McPherson.
McPherson said nurses won’t let politicians hide behind platitudes or the claim they can’t answer questions because they involve collective bargaining. We’re talking about the principles and the priorities that will guide their term in government, principles that are critical for the public to know to determine if the candidates are truly committed to solving health care problems."
So far politicians who have signed BCNU’s pledge for nursing and health include: Liberals Kevin Krueger (Kamloops-North Okanagan) and Lynn Stevens (Langley); and New Democrats Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam-Burke Mountain), Bill Hartley (Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows), Ed Conroy (West Kootenay-Boundary), Jamie Brennan (Nanaimo-Parksville), Leonard Krog, (Nanaimo), Bart Healey (Burquitlam); Ken Landgraff (Coquitlam-Maillardville).
For more information contact:
| Debra McPherson |
209-4253 |
| Shirley Ross, Communications Officer |
209-4258 |
|
 |
|
