NBA Tentative Agreement: learn about the details and how to vote

Last week, your bargaining committee reached a tentative agreement with the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC). HSA’s Board of Directors joins the bargaining committee in recommending ratification. 
 
Make no mistake: this agreement was made possible by members standing together.  
 
NBA members across BC delivered an historic 98% strike vote mandate that reshaped bargaining and sent a clear message that they were united in demanding meaningful change. This vote helped secure improved benefits, access to the enhanced wage mandate offered to other bargaining associations, and respect at the bargaining table. Following the strike vote mandate, the employer returned to the table with a more serious approach and negotiations intensified significantly in the final days of bargaining. With the full strength of members behind them, your bargaining committee was able to push harder, stay at the table longer, and secure a tentative agreement that delivers meaningful progress for nurses across the province. 
 
Backed by one of the strongest strike mandates in Canadian labour history, your bargaining committee fought right until the final hours to secure this tentative agreement and left nothing on the table. The agreement was reached in the early hours of May 21 after intensive negotiations continued late into the night. In the lead-up to the agreement, committee members spent upwards of 18 to 22 hours at the table at a time pushing negotiations as far as possible and fighting for improvements on the priorities nurses identified throughout bargaining. 
 
Your committee fought to secure gains beyond the arbitrated cap on the massage therapy benefit imposed on nurses by arbitrator Vince Ready’s decision, including significant improvements to other paramedical benefits such as vision care and mental health supports. 
 
The agreement also includes: 

• the government’s general wage increase of 12% over four years   
• double-time overtime for nurses who miss meal breaks and for those who work end-of-shift OT on extended-hour shifts   
• additional changes aimed at addressing key priorities raised by members throughout bargaining. 

Members made this possible 
 
Every member played a role in reaching this moment. Thank you to those who stayed informed, attended bargaining and strike vote information sessions, educated coworkers, participated in the strike vote, and helped your bargaining committee reach a tentative agreement it is proud to endorse. 
 
This tentative agreement was not handed to us. Members fought for it.  
  
Your solidarity, engagement, and historic strike vote mandate gave your bargaining committee the leverage needed to force movement at the table, push negotiations as far as possible, and secure this tentative agreement.   

Information package   

Visit the NBA ratification hub for complete information about the tentative agreement, including the comprehensive report. This report outlines in detail the features of the collective agreement achieved by your negotiating team, and includes the specific contract language signed off by the union and employer.

After you’ve reviewed the information on the website, you can join a telephone town hall to ask any questions you may have. 

Information meetings   

Members will have the option to take part in virtual or telephone town halls to hear reports from union leadership and ask questions about the tentative agreement.

Our first telephone town hall will take place Thursday, May 28 at 12 noon Pacific. Details on dates for telephone and virtual telephone town halls scheduled over the next few weeks will be shared with members shortly. 

To participate in the telephone town halls, simply wait for your phone to ring at the scheduled meeting time and pick up. Allow 10 minutes for all the calls to be placed; the meeting won’t start until the full dial-out is complete. If you have recently changed your phone number, please update your contact information so that we dial the correct number.

If you miss the call or don’t receive the call let us know by emailing info@hsabc.org to be added to the list. 

How to vote

Voting on the tentative agreement is open to all members covered by the Nurses Bargaining Association, and will be held online. Voting will open on Monday, June 15 and close Friday, June 19. The opening and closing times will be provided shortly.
 
You will need a voting credential to cast your vote; these will be sent to your personal email on file with HSA. Voting credentials will be sent when voting opens on June 15. If you do not receive your voting credential at that time, contact us for assistance. 
 
You will not be able to vote if you have not provided the union with your personal email address. Take a second now to confirm that the union has your current personal email by using the member contact update form or by reaching out by email to info@hsabc.org.