Nurses vote in favour of three-year provincial collective agreement
BC’s nurses have voted in favour of the tentative 2019-2022 provincial agreement reached between the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) and the Health Employers' Association of BC (HEABC).
More than 21,000 ballots were cast with 54 per cent of nurses voting to ratify the three-year deal that was reached in November 2018.
Registered psychiatric nurses who are members of HSA rejected the terms of the tentative agreement with a 73 per cent no vote.
”HSA’s RPNs have sent a clear message that they, along with BCNU members, are skeptical that real improvements to address workload issues will come,” said HSA President Val Avery.
“When we talked to our members about the agreement, they had real concerns about a “working short” premium that lets employers off the hook from addressing shortages, and plans to change pension and benefits governance and coverage,” Avery said.
HSA will continue to vigilantly advocate for registered psychiatric nurses in the Nurses' Bargaining Association as the union bargaining association and employers work within the new collective agreement to address concerns of all nurses.
The contract comes into effect April 1, 2019 and expires March 31, 2022.
A detailed summary of this agreement can be found on the HSA website here.