President's Report: Nurses are Unstoppable Together
BCNU President Aman Grewal opened the union’s 41st annual convention by speaking about the organization’s achievements over the past year, including re-joining the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), negotiating a new provincial collective agreement and securing a government commitment to nurse-patient ratios.
The theme of this year’s convention – “unstoppable together” – was reflected throughout Grewal’s address. She said the union continues to work hard to make sure members are informed about issues that affect them, and protected when workplace conflicts emerge. She also told delegates that BCNU’s ongoing advocacy means nurses’ voices are respected more than ever by government decision makers and members of the public.
Grewal said ratifying a new three-year Nurses’ Bargaining Association provincial collective agreement with historic compensation gains was her proudest achievement since addressing members at the union’s last convention. She praised the efforts of the elected bargaining committee and reported that a total of 40,526 members participated in the ratification process, with 61 percent voting in favour.
“In the beginning, only a few of us on the committee knew each other, but I can tell you that this group was in sync in no time,” said Grewal. “We were united in our resolve, and never lost sight of our members – our LPNs, RPNs and RNs working in long-term care, the community and acute care.”
Grewal reported that securing a government commitment of $750-million dollars in funding for minimum nurse-patient ratios was another historic achievement, and said she looks forward to help implement a staffing model that will help create the practice conditions needed to retain nurses in the profession and improve patient care.
Grewal also spoke about BCNU joining with CFNU. She said BCNU has two seats on the CFNU National Executive Board, and looks forward to uniting with other provincial nurses’ unions nurses across the country in the fight for improved working conditions and health-care funding.
Grewal also talked about BCNU’s advocacy on behalf of members at worksite rallies in local communities like Port Moody and Nanaimo to raise awareness of the ongoing nurse staffing crisis. “The media exposure we earn helps us educate the public about the state of health care in BC and raise the issues that are important to nurses,” she said.
Grewal told delegates that BCNU will continue to ring alarm bells about the dire nursing shortage that has led to temporary emergency room closures across the province, and push for solutions like streamlining the licensing process internationally educated nurses.
“It is through collective action that we will continue to achieve gains for nurses and start to fix this health-care staffing crisis we find ourselves in,” she said. “We need to work on building this union up, listening to our members, supporting their activism and helping them become involved in our grassroots movement.”