Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Image Credit:  BC Nurses Union BC nurses have reached a breaking point after years of unsafe conditions, rising violence in the workplace and a government that wouldn’t listen. Now they are on the picket line fighting to be heard. Last week, nurses began job action with a 72-hour strike notice, refusing non-essential overtime and stepping back from non-nursing duties. As of Tuesday, they have escalated to picket lines for the first time in decades. This moment was avoidable. It is the result of years of unanswered concerns from the frontline workers who keep our hospitals running. Nurses have been raising the same concerns for years: unsafe staffing levels, rising violence on the job, and a workload no single person should have to carry. None of it is new, and none of it should have taken a strike vote to get the government's attention. "Nurses are exercising their legal right to job action, but it shouldn’t have had to come to this," said Kiel Giddens, MLA for...

The first strike day by government workers wasn’t defined by the location or size of its picket lines on Tuesday, but by the political muscle that showed up to help it push back against the New Democrat government. Leaders from the BC Teachers’ Federation, BC Nurses’ Union, BC Federation of Labour and Canadian Union of Public Employees travelled to Victoria to attend BC General Employees’ Union president Paul Finch’s opening strike rally. “Thank you for your support,” said Finch, who highlighted attendees like BCNU president Adriene Gear. “We’re going to be there to support you.” The solidarity is an early sign that the BC NDP government may find it harder to divide and conquer the organized labour movement than it first thought ... CLICK HERE for the full story

'Enough blame to go around' in healthcare system, says BC Nurses Union president As the healthcare in the Interior comes under fire, and with that the Ministry of Health, the BC Nurses Union president says there’s enough blame to go around. While discussing nurses inability to engage in online discourse, union president Adrian Gear told Castanet the system is experiencing huge pressures. “I think there's enough blame to go around. Is it this government? Sure, but was it the last government? 100 per cent ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

The BC Nurses’ Union says a growing provincial dependence on for-profit nursing agencies is not only costing the BC government more money — it’s also hurting patient care. Union president Adriane Gear says health authorities are increasingly relying on these private agencies to alleviate staffing shortages. She says that while they provide a short-term solution, they shouldn’t be used consistently, given that a large portion of the cost goes directly into the agencies’ profits ... CLICK HERE for the full story

With cracks in the health-care system seemingly becoming deeper, B.C. Premier David Eby claims things are improving ... ... Adriane Gear is president of the BCNU, and she says funding or not, nothing has changed on the frontlines. Adding nurses are overworked, overwhelmed, and facing a critical staffing shortage ... ... “We continue to be challenged with not having enough staff to deliver the care. The emergency room situation is concerning. Many emergency rooms are overflowing with patients and there’s certainly long times to be assessed. That is due, partly, to not having enough nurses, but there’s also not enough primary care providers" ... CLICK HERE for the full story