B.C. nurses to launch picket line at Vancouver General Hospital

British Columbia nurses are set to ramp up job action with a picket line at the province’s largest hospital. 

The B.C. Nurses Union (BCNU) said picketing at Vancouver General Hospital will begin at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

The union last week said its members across B.C. would stop performing non-nursing duties and refuse unnecessary overtime.

The BCNU said nurses and health employers were set to return to the bargaining table Monday afternoon.

Bargaining teams for BCNU and the Health Employers Association of B.C. reached a tentative agreement May, but nurses voted 67 per cent to reject the agreement.

The union launched job action on July 2 after issuing a 72-hour strike notice earlier that week. 

It said the province had “failed to meaningfully respond to nurses’ concerns or improve its bargaining mandate.”

B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said after the union issued the strike notice that the province respects the decision to take job action, and noted the B.C. Labour Relations board sets minimum levels of service for essential services. 

“People will continue to get the health care they need,” she said.