Vice President's Report: "Stewards are the Backbone of our Union"
From grassroots advocacy to worksite campaigns, BCNU Vice President Adriane Gear outlined some of the highlights in her portfolio on the first full day of Convention 2023.
Before she dove in, however, Gear took a moment to recognize the work of BCNU’s stewards, who received loud applause for their dedication in their roles.
“Stewards are the backbone of our union,” she said.
She noted that stewards have been at the forefront of the union’s member engagement efforts over the last several months, and praised the work that has gone into organizing several rallies at worksites across the province, including Nanaimo, Port Moody and Prince George, where chronic staffing shortages and increased patient needs of have led to untenable conditions in emergency departments.
Gear also highlighted the important work of BCNU’s regional lobby coordinators, including a meet-and-greet with MLAs from all three political parties last March. The trip to Victoria offered the group a chance to discuss the nurse staffing crisis in the province with Premier David Eby, Health Minister Adrian Dix and opposition health critic Shirley Bond.
“We were able to speak to them about issues in their constituencies and bring stories from the front lines directly to the decision makers,” she said.
Gear congratulated the nurse activists in the room on the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision ending for-profit health promoter Dr. Brian Day’s 14-year legal attack on our publicly funded health-care system.
She said nurses can celebrate the fact that the court affirmed laws ensuring equitable access to health care are not a violation of Canadians’ charter rights.
“Twenty years ago, it was BCNU that began ringing the bell over evidence of unchecked extra-billing by private clinics and increasing violations of the Canada Health Act,” she said.
“We successfully pressured the government to strengthen legislation that would protect patients from being charged unlawful fees when accessing necessary health care and prevent for-profit medical clinics from flouting the law.”
She reminded delegates that BCNU supported patients in telling their stories of the financial burden they incurred when referred for treatment at a for-profit surgical facility. “These experiences became the basis for evidence that was used to pressure the government into action, and later as evidence in the trial.”
She said BCNU now expects to see full enforcement of our provincial health regulations. Dr. Day and others can no longer be allowed to flout our public health-care laws and take advantage of vulnerable patients.