BCNU Joins CFNU Family on First Day of Convention
Convention 2022 got off to an exciting start on Wednesday morning, and this year’s theme, Strength in Solidarity, rang truer than ever as special guest, CFNU president Linda Silas, announced BCNU will be joining the federation.
“Welcoming BCNU into the CFNU family is one of the highlights of my career,” said Silas who received cheers and a standing ovation from the delegation. “Moving forward, we are going to stand together to fix this mess. We need to retain, reintegrate and recruit nurses in this country.”
CFNU represents over 200,000 nurses and is the largest women’s organization in Canada. Given the substantial challenges facing the nursing profession across the country, BCNU’s invite is expected to elevate the work underway with governments and decision makers around chronic staffing issues, workload and violence from coast to coast.
“We have been warning governments for 15 years that there was a crisis coming,” said Silas. “In my 30 years working in nursing, I have never seen members so fed up. We deserve fair pay, and we deserve to return home safely after a shift.”
After surveying its members, CFNU found sixty per cent of nurses said they are considering leaving the profession, while one-in-five nurses admit they are thinking of retiring early.
“Fifty-five is too early to retire,” Silas declared. “We need our experienced nurses to stay so they can share their knowledge. We need to change the culture in nursing. Stop being martyrs and start demanding respect. CFNU will be hosting a Health Ministers Meeting in Vancouver next week and BCNU will be there to speak with BC Health Minister Adrian Dix and other representatives from across the country.
Darlene Jackson with the Manitoba Nurses’ Union (MNU) was one of four nurse leaders who joined Silas at BCNU’s first day of convention. She described the public health care system in her province as a sinking ship but added she’s hopeful things will improve.
“Our public health care systems are ill, but they are not terminal,” she said.