Black Wednesday for B.C. Nurses

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Many B.C. nurses are outraged by the government's

legislation to impose a contract that 96% (20,000)

said no to.

This government shows contempt and disrespect for the

very nurses that have been subsidizing the health care

system on our backs for too long.

The government has broken it's promise to the people

of B.C. about improving health care thereby placing our

patients in more jepordy by this action.

They even extened the cooling off period so the nurses

cannot do any legal protest until they have pushed

through the legislation.

This government offers up misleading information to the public

regarding an offer that they claim is on parity with the

Alberta nurses however it is not. The offer is $57 million

less than what nurses in Alberta begin earning April 1,2001.

The initial wage increase April 1, 2001 in this imposed

contract will be 2%. That is chump change for a front line

general duty level 6 nurse making $26.50 (Canadian).

There are also consessions regarding casual call in

by senority and removal of designated days off from

part time workers.

Our Premier Hon. Gordon Campbell has said he wants

to make B.C. a magnet for nurses to come to. Would you

want to work here? If not please let him know and his

team why you would not come to B.C.

Hon. Gordon Campbell Premier

Phone:250 387-1715

fax: 250 387-0087

po Box 9041

STN Prov GOVT

Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 9E1

Hon. Colin Hansen Minister of Health Services

Phone: 250 953-3547

fax: 250 356-9587

po box 9050

STN Prov GOVT

Victoria, B. C. Canada V8W 9E2

Hon. Graham Bruce

Minister of Skills Development and Labour

Phone: 250 356 6348

Fax:250 356 356 6595

Po Box 9052

STN PROV GOVT

Victoria B.C. Canada V8W 9E2

If you want more information visit the BCNU web site or give

them a call at 604-433-2268

Please help out here and let these people know what you

think. I don't have a lot of computer skills so if someone

knows how to move this post to sites where we might get

some support I am sure it would be appreciated

Thanx in advance for taking the time to read my post

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I have been told that BC hospitals plan to go recruiting in Nova Scotia to try to get nurses there to go to BC. I don't know how successful this will be, leaving one dictatorship for another. I think Alberta will be a much more attractive destination. Also, nurses currently working in the border area can easily work in Washington hospitals without relocating.

Recruiters from the USA are not allowing a golden opportunity like this to go by. I hear they are *VERY* active in BC right now.

I predict BC will continue to hemorrhage nurses until it becomes a major public health crisis.

This action will come back to haunt the BC government. The effects will not be immediate but the damage that's been done will become more apparent within the next few years. This isn't over yet, not by a long shot.

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We had a recruiter come here weeks ago. The place was packed. A lot of us will be leaving over this complete lack of respect. The thing that really bugs me is that they campaigned on a platform which supported free bargaining. Then as soon as they're elected they legislate a contract.

I don't think it will take a long time for the effects to be felt. We are already at least 1000 nurses short in the province and with 5000 having submitted their tentative resignation I would think the people of BC are going to be feeling the effect of the nursing shortage very soon if they haven't already.

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Originally posted by fergus51

We had a recruiter come here weeks ago. The place was packed. A lot of us will be leaving over this complete lack of respect. The thing that really bugs me is that they campaigned on a platform which supported free bargaining. Then as soon as they're elected they legislate a contract.

I don't think it will take a long time for the effects to be felt. We are already at least 1000 nurses short in the province and with 5000 having submitted their tentative resignation I would think the people of BC are going to be feeling the effect of the nursing shortage very soon if they haven't already.

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Huh?

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Originally posted by fergus51

Huh?

Oops... It seems my reply didn't quite make it, but the quote did. What I said (more correctly, TRIED to say) was that I thought the impact would not become fully apparent right away because of the time lag involved in making the move out of BC. I was looking at one recruiter's site (I'd post the URL but don't wish to run afoul of the board policy regarding "recruiting") that gave an estimated timeline from the time a nurse decides to go to the USA until the time the nurse begins work in the USA as being 1 to 2 years, depending on the nurses' country of origin. This is not a factor for those considering Alberta as I understand that Alberta will recognize your BC registration without requiring you to rewrite your RN exams.

I do think this "victory" by the Liberals over the BC nurses will prove hollow and will come back to haunt them. Whatever the outcome, this is bad news for patients in BC.

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I went to the US after graduation. Can be easily done in about 8 weeks. A lot of States don't even require Canadian RNs to write their exam. I assume the longer time is mostly for those in countries other than Canada which may take a lot longer to get through all the paperwork and formalities. I also have citizenship there and am deciding where I will move to in the next few months. So far the list is California, New York, N. Carolina, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Ontario or Alberta.

A lot of the older nurses I work with are planning on taking early retirement and doing travel nursing across the US for 8 months of the year and coming back home for 4 months. I think that this is just going to make experienced nurses and new grads realize they can do a lot better elsewhere. A lot seemed to stay out of a sense of loyalty, but after the insulting way we are being treated I feel absolutely no duty to bail out the Liberals and Gordon Campbell.

I don't think the money is bad, but I am pretty sure I will never get a full time position as long as the employer doesn't have to pay part-timers OT now that designated days off are gone.

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