Striking B.C. nurses to suspend picket lines amid mediated talks

The province announced Friday it had appointed veteran labour mediators Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers in an effort to restart stalled talks.

Striking B.C. nurses to suspend picket lines amid mediated talks Veteran mediators Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers were appointed Friday Striking nurses in British Columbia say they will suspend picket lines this week as a sign of good faith, as mediated contract talks begin. Nurses plan to suspend picket lines starting Tuesday night, the B.C. Nurses Union says. The province announced Friday it had appointed veteran labour mediators Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers in an effort to restart stalled talks.

Speaking at picket line rally at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Monday, union president Adriane Gear said the appointment of mediators was a "positive" step and that she had "guarded optimism." “We hope that government and health employers come to those discussion prepared to make meaningful progress," Gear said. "What we haven’t heard is there’s any expansion of the government imposed mandates, so we will have to see.”

Last month, 67 per cent of nurses voted to reject a tentative agreement that would have offered improved benefits and a 12 per cent wage hike over four years. The deal was negotiated under the Balanced Measures Mandate, the provincial government's framework for negotiating with public sector unions. The union has cited deteriorating workplace safety, pay and burnout as key issues.

On Friday, Premier David Eby said he didn't want to comment on mediated talks. "I don't want to prejudge any conversations that will take place at the table," Eby said at that time. "I know we have a shared goal of ensuring nurses are respected and appreciated in our system, and are able to return to work fully to support patients in B.C., and that will be our goal at the table."

Nurses launched job action at the start of the month with a ban on non-nursing duties and non-essential overtime. They subsequently added picket lines at Vancouver General Hospital and Surrey Memorial Hospital, before expanding pickets to Vancouver Island this weekend.