Bargaining Better

A CALL FOR SOLIDARITY Provincial chairs of the four BCNU equity seeking caucuses and two non-equity seeking groups address delegates on day one of the provincial bargaining conference. Clockwise from top left: LGBTQ caucus chair Jessy Dame, Indigenous Leadership Circle chair Catherine Tanski, Young Nurses Network chair Melissa Vannerus, Men in Nursing chair Matthew LeGresley, Mosaic of Colour caucus chair Tracia Batson-Dottin and Workers with Disability caucus chair Kelly Woywitka.

BCNU is committed to advancing equity principles and practices within the union, and the work to make the organization more inclusive is ongoing. One of the ways it's doing this is to make the BCNU human rights and equity committee a central part of the bargaining process. That began in February 2022 with the inaugural Human Rights and Equity Bargaining Conference, which brought equity caucus members together to share their groups' specific concerns and proposed solutions for issues that may be placed on the provincial bargaining table – and it continued with the equity caucuses full participation at this October's provincial conference.

BCNU Interim CEO Gould opened the two-day event by emphasizing the important link between solidarity and equity, and citing feminist scholar Jodi Dean, he made a distinction between conventional solidarity, founded on a "shared adherence to common beliefs or goals which unite people in membership" and reflective solidarity where a person "is considered a member despite, indeed because of her difference."

He said this reflective solidarity is the kind that must inform BCNU's collective endeavor as a union, as it is one that is open to differences of thought, ideas and ways of being.

"The provincial collective agreement is an equity-seeking document. Its language evolves over time – in response to the needs and requirements of the members who ratify it, and then uphold and defend the rights it confers," he stated. "As our union becomes ever more diverse – our commitment to a reflective solidarity requires that we act accordingly: giving voice to those whose voices have been excluded and considering how a collective agreement can address the harms wrought by colonization, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and racism."

BCNU President Aman Grewal then welcomed the chairs of each of the union's equity seeking caucuses and groups to the podium to highlight the concerns of their members, and to remind the larger group that equity issues are central, not peripheral, to the bargaining process.

Indigenous Leadership Circle chair and BCNU North West region steward Catherine Tanski began by acknowledging that opening day – Oct. 4 – was a National Day of Awareness for murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit peoples, and she hung a symbolic red dress from the podium for all to view for the remainder of the conference.

Tanski reminded delegates about the systemic racism Indigenous people continue to face daily. "In many ways, racism is not just one of the social determinants — it's the underlying structural determinant by which all other social determinants are upheld," she stated.

Tanski noted that Indigenous people comprise less than five percent of the Canadian population, yet make up over half of all those incarcerated, over half of all children apprehended to foster care and well over half of the inquiries into missing and murdered women, girls and two-spirit people. They are also overrepresented in statistics for drug toxicity deaths in BC – with death rates among First Nations women being the highest.

"There's no denying that Canada's colonial past has created a health-care crisis for Indigenous peoples — and we are all working right in the belly of it," Tanski remarked. "Nurses play a critical role in being the first and sometimes only point of contact for Indigenous peoples, especially in remote and isolated communities, and so we need to break open these hard conversations about racism more often."

Tanski said racism is a public health crisis that cannot be ignored any longer. "Nurses are leaving the profession in droves and not looking back because they feel burnt out, dissatisfied, fed up and unappreciated by their employer, and when Indigenous nurses leave positions that surround Indigenous communities, this not only creates staffing problems, but it affects the health and well-being of the community that's left behind."

To address the crisis, Tanski noted the federal government recently negotiated increases to existing recruitment and retention allowances for hundreds of Indigenous health nurses who work in remote areas across Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Manitoba.

"We want to see something similar on the table to help attract and keep Indigenous nurses and allies who can and will commit to improving health outcomes for their peoples," she said.

BCNU LGBTQ caucus provincial chair and Richmond-Vancouver region member Jessy Dame then took to the podium to welcome delegates and provide highlights from a provincial survey the caucus conducted with the support of Trans Focus consulting. It's purpose was to better understand the experiences of Two-Spirit, Trans and gender diverse (2STGD) BCNU members, and the challenges that prevent or complicate these members' full participation on the job and within their union.

"From this survey we have been able to put forward 12 evidence-based recommendations for change in culture, systems, procedures and spaces for greater support and inclusion," said Dame, who reported that T2SGD people experience two-to three-times higher rates of negative experiences at work and are more likely to leave the nursing profession.

Providing broader education on gender diversity, introducing and improving system changes such as form fields for pronouns and gender, and adding a gender-based lens to violence prevention strategies were some of the recommendations Dame noted.

"We know that our nurses are being stigmatized and harmed. We now have living proof," Dame said of the survey. "We need to do better together. Take a moment to think about your daily life and how we can work together to challenge the current state of 'normal' that pits society against the queer community," he said, and called on the assembly to become meaningful allies. "There is no such thing as 'normal' but we are all perfect," remarked Dame. "This is your call to action. It is not just the caucuses' role to do the work. You are aware of the forced limitations of queer folks in current society, and we all must work together to challenge these barriers."

Delegates then heard from Mosaic of Colour caucus chair and Simon-Fraser region mental health rep Tracia Batson-Dottin, who said BCNU's commitment to diversity and inclusion means allyship is required now more than ever.

She shared the areas of concern her caucus has identified ahead of NBA bargaining. These include the development of an effective respectful workplace policy that holds offenders to account, mandatory courses on cultural sensitivity, a zero-tolerance policy on racism and discrimination, and data collection to track occurrences of discrimination, harassment, and bullying.

Batson-Dottin also said unions must continue to advocate for internationally educated nurses (IENs), who are a valuable source of knowledge that advances Canada's health-care system. "IENs bring diversity to nursing teams, which is necessary for inclusive hospital service delivery," she argued. "We salute you and acknowledge your significant contribution, hard work, sacrifice and dedication," she told the IENs in attendance.

Batson-Dottin called on all nurses of colour to join the Mosaic of Colour caucus and encouraged all the assembled delegates to become an ally.

Workers with Disability caucus chair and Pacific Rim region steward liaison Kelly Woywitka then addressed conference delegates. She began with an appeal for empathy for her caucus members or any nurse who is being accommodated for a disability and reminded delegates that everyone is one incident away from being one of those nurses.

"Be an ally, when someone needs an accommodation, and help us keep our jobs. Have an open mind, have an open heart," she said.

Woywitka reported that her caucus wants to the see the bargaining of an improved respectful workplace policy, increased mental health benefits, better accommodation language, more Enhanced Disability Management Program reps and cultural sensitivity training.

In her 10 years as caucus chair, Woywitka remarked that this was the first time she and other human rights and equity caucus chairs had been invited to speak at a provincial bargaining conference, and that she was grateful for the opportunity to raise her members' issues.

Men in Nursing provincial chair and North West region lobby coordinator Matthew LeGresley followed Woywitka by echoing the previous speakers' calls for greater equity, diversity and inclusion, and said that all members need to see themselves in their negotiated collective agreement.

He said all members would benefit from a bargaining proposal that sees every worker, regardless of family structure, entitled to an equitable parental leave allowance.

"Greater gender equity would help retain nurses and boost member engagement in the union," he argued. "Members would see themselves in the collective agreement and know they belong with other nurses."

LeGresley said it's important for everyone to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in contract negotiations. "When nurses feel we belong together, we are strong together," he remarked.

Young Nurses Network provincial chair and Simon Fraser region OHS rep Melissa Vannerus then spoke to the many concerns facing nurses under 35 – a group that made up almost half of the delegates in attendance.

She reminded members that 42 percent of nurses between the ages of 20 and 29 are considering leaving the profession, and said young nurses want to see retention bonuses, mentorship premiums that would incentivize experiences nurses to support new hires, and a more equitable wage grid that does not require nine years of employment to reach the top step. •

Click here for more information on the human rights and equity caucuses.

UPDATE (Fall 2022)