Canadian Federation of Nurses’ Unions Presentation: “We need to show up together.”
BCNU’s third day of convention opened with a powerful address from Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President Linda Silas, who delivered a message of solidarity ahead of BCNU’s upcoming strike vote and urged members to come together and fight for what they deserve.
Silas began by promoting the CFNU's upcoming annual convention in Saskatoon and highlighting the impact of its recent All In campaign, which reached more than seven million voters during the last federal election with a clear message: support public health care.
She went on to highlight findings from CFNU’s report Violence Against Nurses in Canada: An Urgent Call to Action, which found that six in ten nurses experienced job-related violence or abuse in the past year.
“We’re not here to be beaten up,” Silas reminded delegates, adding that “you are only as safe and powerful as the person standing next to you,” before inviting BCNU members to share their experiences through a national CFNU survey on the changes they want to see in nursing.
She delivered a rousing call to action ahead of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association strike vote. “You need to say ‘yes’,” she said, underscoring the stakes and pointing to the role nurses play in delivering care across the province: if government wants to sustain one of the strongest public health-care systems in the country, it must answer to nurses.
“We don’t go on strike because we want to. We go on strike because we’re forced to,” she said.
Silas’s remarks were followed by a pre-recorded message from Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, who reaffirmed support from across the labour movement. “The rest of the Canadian labour movement has your back,” she said, pointing to the need for stronger recruitment and retention to ensure patients can get the care they need. “If you have to walk a picket line, we will be right there with you.”
Silas closed by outlining CFNU’s ongoing advocacy for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and highlighting new parliamentary petitions calling for tax relief for nurses and protections for health-care workers in conflict zones. She encouraged members to stand together and fight for a stronger future for public health care.
“We need to show up together.”