There is Strength in Solidarity
BCNU President Aman Grewal kicked off the union’s 40th annual convention with an overview of the work that she and elected leaders have undertaken on nurses’ behalf over the last year.
Grewal said she’s been honoured to advocate for all of BCNU’s more than 48,000 members, whether talking to reporters about members’ experiences or meeting with elected officials and policy makers to tell them about the changes that are needed to improve the health-care system and the lives of working nurses.
“We’ve gotten the public’s attention on the various challenges nurses are facing, from the staffing shortage and its impact on our mental health, to increasing workplace violence,” said Grewal, noting that BCNU is mentioned in the media over 250 times a month.
The theme of this year’s convention is “strength in solidarity” – and Grewal’s message was an important reminder about what can be accomplished when nurses unite in pursuit of a common goal. She told the more than 400 assembled delegates that the union’s number one priority in the year ahead is the negotiation of a new Nurses’ Bargaining Association collective agreement.
“This is your contract,” she remarked, “and if we take a strike vote we need to speak with every member we know to ensure we receive a strong mandate.”
Grewal also reminded delegates about the important actions the union has recently undertaken to make reconciliation with Indigenous peoples central to all of BCNU’s work. This included the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation committee that has worked with the BCNU Indigenous Leadership Circle to identify specific calls to action that the union will undertake to help dismantle the legacy of colonialism in the health-care system and recognize the harms Indigenous peoples have suffered at the hands of nurses and the nursing profession.
“Today, I look to you to ensure that our health-care system is a culturally safe and welcoming place for everyone in need of care,” she said.
The meeting was BCNU’s first in-person convention since 2019. Grewal told delegates she was glad to be able to gather together again. “The COVID-19 pandemic has turned your lives upside down,” she acknowledged. “But you have been champions through all of it, and I’m hoping that things will become better for all of us.”