‘Cautious optimism’: Striking nurses picket outside Victoria hospital

Royal Jubilee Hospital becomes the third Island hospital to host a picket line in as many days

Hundreds of nurses and supporters gathered outside Royal Jubilee Hospital on Tuesday (July 14) morning for what is expected to be the final picket line before the British Columbia Nurses’ Union (BCNU) pauses picketing to enter mediated contract talks. The demonstration marked the third consecutive day of hospital picketing on Vancouver Island, following actions at Victoria General Hospital on Sunday and Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Monday. On Monday, the union said it would pause picket lines at the end of Tuesday in good faith as mediated talks continue between the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) and the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC).

Veteran labour mediator Vince Ready has been appointed to oversee the process. Addressing the crowd outside the hospital, BCNU president Adriane Gear said Tuesday represented an important milestone in the dispute, but stressed that the end of picketing does not mean the union is backing down. BC Nurses’ Union President Adriane Gear addresses a crowd of hundreds of nurses and supporters outside Royal Jubilee Hospital on Tuesday morning, before the union pauses its picket lines to enter mediated contract negotiations.

(Tony Trozzo/Victoria News) “These lines are coming down not because our work is finished,” Gear told the crowd on Tuesday. “We’re not done yet.

But our solidarity of standing together and standing up for our patients and ourselves has brought us to this point of mediation.” Gear said the union is entering the mediation process with “cautious optimism,” though its core priorities remain unchanged. “Nurses need and deserve safe staffing.

We deserve safer workplaces and we deserve manageable workloads and fair compensation,” she said, adding that the bargaining team will carry every member’s voice into the discussions. Hundreds of nurses and supporters wave flags and hold signs outside Royal Jubilee Hospital on Tuesday morning during what is expected to be the union’s final picket line before pausing for mediation. (Tony Trozzo/Victoria News)

According to union data gathered since job action began on July 2, almost 150,000 hours of overtime had been approved as of late Monday afternoon, representing roughly 14,000 overtime shifts. Gear revealed that nearly $25 million has been spent on overtime in the last two weeks alone. She noted that 90 per cent of those approved shifts were required simply to fill baseline staffing needs, while 91 per cent of the requests came with less than 24 hours of notice.

“These numbers reinforce exactly what we’ve been fighting for, meaningful staffing solutions and not band-aids,” she said. Gear added that while nurses are committed to maintaining essential service levels during job action, normal conditions are often much worse. “Outside of job action, on any given day, on any given unit, in any given care environment, nurses work below essential service levels because the staffing is so poor,” she said.

She told the crowd that the solidarity shown by members over the last two weeks is what brought health employers to the table. “As the lines come down tonight, I hope every nurse knows you made this happen,” Gear said. “We are entering mediation from a position of strength because of your determination.”

She finished with a plea for nurses’ importance within the system. “I heard something today. And it really resonated with me.

Nurses, and this applies to all healthcare workers. Nurses are lifelines. They’re not budget lines.

Let’s remind everyone of that. And we’ll keep strong together.” RELATED: Union president calls for support, respect for nurses at Victoria General Hospital picket line B.C. Nurses’ Union to pause picket lines as mediation begins