Members overwhelmingly ratify provincial contract extension
Now the government and health authorities must work with nurses to improve the quality of nurses' worklife
Members have overwhelmingly ratified an extension of the provincial collective agreement. The overall margin was 96 per cent in favour.
The retention and recruitment agreement provides labour market adjustments of three
per cent on April 1, 2010 and April 1, 2011. These market adjustments were proposed to help retain nurses by keeping compensation competitive.
BCNU president Debra McPherson is pleased that members have given the agreement such strong support. Now that the agreement has been ratified the union looks forward to beginning the ongoing work that will lead to improvements in members' working conditions, and hopefully help recruit and retain more nurses.
The agreement establishes a top level Joint Quality Worklife Committee to address key nursing practice concerns, consisting of equal representation from the union and provincial government/health authorities.
BCNU will be pushing hard for implementation of specific measures to address workload, health and safety and violence prevention. The JQWC will also discuss enhanced disability management, a Short Term Illness and Injury Plan (STIIP), use of agency nurses and staffing processes, a health and welfare benefit review and supervisory capacity (Levels 2 and 3).
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