December 20, 2006
Illegal billing: Nurses launch new court action against provincial government Legal petition asks BC Supreme Court to order Victoria to enforce the laws of medicare to protect patients from extra billing and user fees by private clinics and medical specialists. More...

December 19, 2006
Media Advisory
Illegal billing by private health schemes - Nurses to outline steps to persuade Victoria to act More...

December 1, 2006
Government action against for-profit, user-pay urgent care scheme is first step in needed crackdown on private clinics
The BC Health Coalition hopes the provincial government’s apparent willingness to act against the False Creek for-profit urgent care centre is the first step in a long-needed crackdown on the billing practices of private surgery clinics in BC. More...

November 24, 2006
Nurses fear private "ER" will make hospital conditions worse
The scheme threatens to draw staff away from hospital emergency wards. Patients needing a hospital bed will be forced to seek help at hospital ERs anyway. More...

November 24, 2006
Preventing sharps injuries - nurses call for quicker impementation of new regulations The president of the BC Nurses’ Union wants quicker implementation of new WorksafeBC rules that will require all BC health employers to use the safest sharp devices available by 2008. More...

November 23, 2006
Media Advisory
Nurses' president addresses sharps hearings today More...

November 16, 2006
Profit not the cure for future of Medicare
Concerned citizens get the facts at Vancouver Forum More...

November 6, 2006
Joint union News Release - Segregation of health care providers from public forums undermines "health conversation," say unions
The provincial government should reverse its plan to exclude health care providers from the 16 regional public forums that are the certerpiece of the $10-million "Conversation on Health." More...

October 30, 2006
Nurses welcome decision to review planned closure of Hampton Court
Nurses are pleased the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is taking a second look at plans to close Hampton Court, a Vancouver facility for the mentally ill More...

October 26, 2006
BCNU members at jail health units ratify new contract
Members working at 10 jail health units vote 84 per cent for improved contract that provides higher wages and an improved sick leave plan More...

October 10, 2006
Joint BCNU/HEU News Release - GAG order on Vancouver Island Health Care workers undermines "Health Conversation"
Health authorities need clear direction from health minister that health care workers can participate More...

September 28, 2006
Nurses concerned premier's "Conversation on health" foreshadows push for more user pay in BC
The President of the BC Nurses' Union is concerned the provincial government's drive to entrench "sustainability" into BC's health care laws is simply a code for more user pay health care. More...

September 28, 2006
BC Health Coalition suspicious of Liberal government "conversation"
The co-chair of the BC Health Coalition is concerned that the Liberal's "conversation on health" will simply try to convince the public to support the government's agenda for private health care rather than really look at enhancing public health care and medicare. More...

September 26, 2006
Critical hospital decision: Health care workers demand VIHA heed the voice of North Islanders Upgrading and improving existing facilities in Campbell River and Comox makes more sense than closing all acute care beds and both ERs and building a completely new facility More...

September 7, 2006
BCNU launches new website
The BC Nurses' Union today launched its new website at www.bcnu.org The website features a completely new design, a more user-friendly information flow, and several new features, including photos of BCNU members' and a special section for student nurses. More...

September 7, 2006
BCNU members score big in campaign for safe needles
WorkSafe BC (WCB) agrees to strengthen proposed new rules to prevent injuries from needles and other sharp devices More...

September 1, 2006
BCNU members at jail health units reject contract
More than 50 per cent of voters say no - BCNU members who work in BC's provincial jail health units have voted to reject a settlement reached with Joye Morris Health Services Inc. on August 23rd. More...

August 31, 2006
Vancouver Coastal Health and BC Nurses' Union agree, supervised injection site saves lives and must continue
Nurses' leader calls decision delay unconscionable
The bottom line on insite, Vancouver's supervised injection site (SIS), is that the independent research shows that it is getting results. More...

August 23, 2006
Nurses and other health care staff at BC jails reach tentative agreement
After a marathon bargaining session that lasted into the early hours today, a tentative agreement has been reached, ending job action at health care units at ten provincial jails. More...

August 18, 2006
Workers accept contract at Tsartlip Nation Health Centre, ending strike
Workers at the Tsartlip Nation Health Centre near Victoria have accepted a tentative agreement that includes improved wages and benefits, ending a strike that began in April. More...

August 17, 2006
Jail nurses and other health care staff launch job action with work-to-rule campaign
To back up a drive for competitive wages and benefits, union members are stopping activities such as answering phones and organizing charts. Nurses are banning non-nursing duties in this initial job action step More...

August 16, 2006
Jail nurses to begin job action tonight
The health care staff is employed by Joye Morris Health Services, a contractor hired by the provincial government More...

July 31, 2006
Prison nurses and support staff vote 94 per cent in favour of strike
Approximately 220 BCNU members work as registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, licensed practical nurses, social workers, pharmaceutical techs and clerical staff at provincial jails that have contracts with private operator Joye Morris Health Services Inc. More...

July 28, 2006
Nurses disappointed by Premiers' inability to develop a comprehensive Canadian approach to fund major health initiatives
Judicious use of federal surplus, not tax cuts, called for Nurses are calling upon the federal government and Premiers to take steps to provide an immediate allocation of federal funds, not tax cuts, to improve the health and well-being of Canadians. More...

June 23, 2006
Nurses distressed over Deputy Minister's resignation
Penny Ballem worked tirelessly for public health care, and was to play a critical role in implementing contract commitments to improve nurses' working conditions and patient care More...

May 26, 2006
Debra McPherson re-elected BCNU president by more than two-to-one
BCNU members have voted by more than a two-to-one margin to re-elect Debra McPherson as president.McPherson defeated former BCNU vice president and Cranbrook RN Patt Shuttleworth by a margin of 3,480 to 1,661 votes. More...

May 26, 2006
BCNU president will demand tough new rules to protect workers from deadly sharps injuries at WorkSafeBC hearing
BCNU president Debra McPherson says WorkSafeBC's proposal for reducing needlestick and other medical sharps injuries doesn't go far enough to protect workers from exposure to infectious blood and body fluids More...

May 25, 2006
Nurses reject VIHA private surgery scheme
Patients will wait longer for care in Island hospitals, after nurses and other staff are lured away to accommodate this massive expansion of for-profit clinics funded by taxpayers dollars More...

May 25, 2006 Media Advisory
BCNU president will demand tough new rules to protect workers from deadly sharps injuries at WorkSafeBC hearing
BCNU president Debra McPherson says WorkSafeBC's proposal for reducing needlestick and other medical sharps injuries doesn't go far enough to protect workers from exposure to infectious blood and body fluids More...

May 10, 2006
Nurses to speak out for safety needles at WorkSafeBC public hearings
BCNU says WorkSafeBC's proposal for reducing needlestick and other medical sharps injuries don't go far enough to protect workers from exposure to infectious blood and body fluids More...

May 08, 2006
Nurses launch TV and radio ads to highlight determination to cooperate on solutions for improving patient care
Now that their new provincial contract is ratified, they're ready to work with Victoria to make sure measures to reduce nurses' workload, and improve working conditions are implemented More...

May 5, 2006
NBA News Release
Nurses ratify new contract by 97.1 per cent
Agreement includes a commitment by the provincial government to address nurses' workloads, including the use of strategic teams for immediate solutions to pressing workload concerns More...

May 1, 2006
Health care workers forced to withdraw services and put up picket line, while Tsartlip Nation Chief and Council continue to refuse to bargain in good faith
Health care workers employed by the Tsartlip Nation were forced to put up a picket line today at the health centre located on the reserve. These workers have been attempting to negotiate a new collective agreement since January 2005 More....

April 27, 2006
Nurses remember fellow workers on Day of Mourning
April 28 marks the national day of mourning for nurses and other workers who have died or been injured on the job. BCNU calls on WorkSafeBC to protect nurses from needless injuries. More...

April 25, 2006
BCHC News Release
BC Health Coalition calls on Harper to defend medicare in BC
The Federal government must follow through on its promise to uphold the Canada Health Act, and refuse to allow public funds to be used to underwrite the profits at the Copeman Healthcare Centre. More...

April 13, 2006
Cowichan District Hospital Nurses Win New Position in ER
RNs in the Emergency Department CDH have been raising concerns regarding the safety and quality of care available to patients in their ER for nearly two years. Dozens of Professional Responsibility Forms (PRFs) were filed by nurses when they felt care was compromised. More...

March 21, 2006
Emergency Room nurses' survey shows patient safety in peril
83 percent of RNs surveyed report that patient safety deteriorated significantly over the last year Recently emergency room (ER) nurses in the Fraser Health Authority (FHA) conducted a survey at ten hospitals across the authority. More...

March 19, 2006
Nurses welcome government's decision to keep the BC NurseLine in public hands
Ministry of Health breaks off negotiations with Clinidata and opts to place the critical health care service under the same body that runs the BC Ambulance Service. Nurses are pleased the provincial government has abandoned its scheme to contract out the BC NurseLine to a US-based private corporation. More ...

February 22, 2006
Nurses astounded provincial budget targets no new money to address nursing shortage
The absence of measures to improve nurses' working environment is disappointing, given that more than one-third of the province' s nurses are eligible to retire More...

February 15, 2006
Nurses disturbed Throne Speech signals more for-profit health care, resulting in higher costs to patients and priority service to those who can afford to pay
Nurses are disturbed that yesterday's Throne Speech shows the provincial government is ready to increase radically the role of private, for-profit medical entrepreneurs in the delivery of health care in BC, resulting in a system offering priority service to those who can afford to pay. More...

February 13, 2006
Health authority assures nurses at financially-troubled facility they will be paid all outstanding wages and benefits
Union congratulates the provincial government for doing the right thing, and thanks staff for staying on the job and caring for residents at the for-profit Port Coquitlam nursing home More...

February 7, 2006
Supreme Court of Canada to hear unions' challenge of B.C. law on Wednesday
The Supreme Court of Canada will hear arguments tomorrow on whether a B.C. law enacted in 2002 violates the constitutionally-protected Charter rights of health care and community social services workers. More...

January 24, 2006
Nurses concerned for health care because of Harper's tax cut promises
But they're hopeful the large number of NDP and Liberal members elected in yesterday's federal election can help moderate the Conservatives' plans More...

January 19, 2006
Nurses call on Harper, other party leaders to declare how they would protect medicare from those poised to destroy it
Challenge to politicians comes as new Ipsos-Reid poll shows Canadians strongly support medicare, and fear more private health care will lead to a for-profit American health care system More...