BCNU Update Magazine Fall 2022

MISSION STATEMENT

The British Columbia Nurses’ Union protects and advances the health, safety, social and economic well-being of our members, our profession and our communities.

BCNU UPDATE MAGAZINE is published by the BC Nurses’ Union, an independent Canadian union governed by a council elected by our 48,000 members. Signed articles do not necessarily represent official BCNU policies.

EDITOR Lew MacDonald

CONTRIBUTORS

Juliet Chang, Tina Cheung, Laura Comuzzi, Neil Fisher, Jim Gould, Aman Grewal, Lexi Huffman, Kent Hurl, Hanif Karim, Kath Kitts, Mihaela Kotsi, Caroline Flink, Shawn Leclair, Courtney McGillion, Moninder Singh

PHOTOS

Neil Fisher, Shawn Leclair, Lew MacDonald

CONTACT US

BCNU Communications Department 4060 Regent Street Burnaby, BC, V5C 6P5

PHONE 604.433.2268 TOLL FREE 1.800.663.9991 FAX 604.433.7945 TOLL FREE FAX 1.888.284.2222

BCNU WEBSITE www.bcnu.org EMAIL EDITOR lmacdonald@bcnu.org

MOVING?

Please send change of address to membership@bcnu.org

Publications Mail Agreement 40834030

Return undeliverable

Canadian addresses to BCNU 4060 Regent Street Burnaby, BC, V5C 6P5

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

BE LOUD AND BE PROUD

THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME.

I and some 450 other BCNU delegates met in Vancouver Oct. 4 and 5 for the union’s provincial bargaining conference. It was an inspiring and energizing gathering, and I’m happy to report that we are now in a position to begin negotiating a new Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) collective agreement.

I know many members have been waiting for this moment, but the process that got us here has been just as important as formal contract talks. It started with member-wide polling last year and continued with telephone town halls, regional bargaining conferences and a province-wide outreach and engagement effort that ran through this fall.

Our bargaining conference was the first province-wide in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and I was thrilled to see so many activists gathered together again in one place.

We channeled our collective energy with a march through downtown Vancouver, where we closed down the intersection of Burrard and West Georgia streets, one of the busiest in the city.

We were loud and we were proud, and the cheers of support we received from pedestrians, cyclists and drivers was truly humbling. It was exhilarating to see so many people honking their horns, clapping, or shouting their praises for the invaluable work nurses do.

The media was also on hand to capture the action and help us take our message to the people of BC. I provided a firsthand account of just how bad BC’s health-care crisis truly is. I spoke of the unrelenting demands placed on nurses at worksites around the province amid a worsening staffing shortage, ER closures and growing patient acuity. I said the impact on our members’ psychological health and safety is all too real, and nurses are struggling to keep their heads above water through a COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing toxic drug crisis.

And I also said that nurses marching in the street sends a clear sign to the provincial gov-

ernment that we mean business, and we’re ready to bargain a new NBA collective agreement that recognizes and reflects nurses’ true value.

Congratulations to those conference delegates elected to serve on our Provincial Bargaining and Job Action committees. And many thanks to all who were nominated to run for positions. We look forward to your continued advocacy as we amp up our activism during bargaining.

Your BCNU council and I travelled to Victoria this month to meet with MLAs from all parties. It was another opportunity for me to speak directly to legislators and policy makers on your behalf. I had an opportunity to meet one-on-one with Premier Horgan and also met with Leader of the Opposition Kevin Falcon and the opposition’s health critic Shirley Bond.

I told them the government needs to do whatever it takes to retain the nurses we have, and the fact that we have a nursing school waitlist during a nurse staffing crisis just doesn’t make sense. We need more seats in nursing schools and more support for internationally educated nurses who are ready to work in BC.

Convention 2022 is right around the corner. Members will be joining together in solidarity from Nov. 2 to 4 and we’ll be out in the streets again, loud and proud, to tell the people of the province that nurses are demanding better working conditions and wages, that we are done being disrespected by health employers, and we expect to be valued as the educated professionals we are. Together, we can achieve many things, and we need each and every member to be present and participate if we call a strike vote, engage in job action or negotiate a tentative agreement requiring a ratification vote. In the meantime, it’s time for you to be loud and be proud. Talk to your steward, and become informed and empowered with NU Connections, our series of online learning resources to help you become an active part of the collective bargaining process.

PHOTO: PETER HOLST

AMAN GREWAL

NEWS FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE CHECK IN

MEN IN NURSING

IT’S GOING TO BE ‘MO’ TIME SOON!

BCNU’s MEN IN Nursing (MIN) group will again be forming a team for this year’s annual Movember fundraising event. The mustache growing affair, which runs Nov. 1–30, promotes awareness about men’s mental health issues, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. This will be MIN chair Matthew LeGresley’ s second year at the helm as team

captain. He’s challenging all his nursing colleagues to support this worthy cause. “Men in Nursing works to address issues of stigma and stereotypes related to men and health care, and Movember activities help men engage with and talk about our health issues.”

LeGresley will be hosting a virtual fundraising event on Zoom in November, where team members will be showing off their mustaches and competing for votes and prizes.

“What better way to show how important proactive health care is than by raising awareness and funding for these issues?” he asks, “especially with a high-impact, low-effort action that’s easy to take part in.”

Watch for more information in member eNews and on BCNU social media. •

Scan this QR code to join the MIN Movember team or donate to one of BCNU’s stachegrowing members.

COLLECTIVE VISION The over 450 members who gathered for the union’s recent provincial bargaining conference took time after a lunch-hour march through downtown Vancouver on Oct. 5 to write messages telling the government and health employers what they deserve in the next Nurses’ Bargaining Association contract. Turn to page 36 to read our feature story on the three-day event.

PAYING MORE AND GETTING LESS

Private surgeries and medical imaging are big business in BC. Over the last two decades, this for-profit sector has benefited from increased outsourcing of publicly funded procedures and unlawful patient extra-billing.

In fact, public contracts with corporate clinics topped $393 million over the last six years, including surgical centres engaged in unlawful extra-billing. These are the findings of a recent report by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives research associate Andrew Longhurst.

The Concerning Rise of Corporate Medicine analyzes the impact of for-profit clinics on BC’s public health-care system. Rather than fund these clinics, it concludes that BC can address wait times more efficiently within the public health-care system by further increasing public surgical and diagnostic capacity, scaling up successful strategies like centralized waiting lists and prescreening by teams of health-care professionals, and reducing the need for hospital care with more emphasis on primary and community-based care (especially for seniors).

MARATHON MASTERS

MORE THAN 7,650 RUNNERS took to the streets of Victoria on Oct. 9 for the 41st Royal Victoria Marathon. Warm weather greeted runners tackling various distances, and over 20 BCNU South Islands region members were there to help them get to the finish line.

“This event is near and dear to my heart,” says South Islands region council member Leanne Robertson-Weeds. “I used to run the half-marathon and I think it’s just a great event to support.” Robertson-Weeds also conscripted students in her local highschool’s leadership program to help distrib-

ute water to thirsty runners.

The marathon took place throughout Victoria’s waterfront, starting and ending in the city’s inner harbour. The run, which is a Boston Marathon qualifier, is renowned as one of Vancouver Island’s biggest sporting events of the year.

“BCNU had the largest and cleanest water and first aid station of all the supporting volunteer organizations,” Robertson-Weeds proudly reports. It was a long day – the South Islands team had to set up at 5:00 a.m. – but Robertson-Weeds says she can’t wait to engage with the wider community again next year.•

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE BCNU South Islands region members were key volunteers at this year’s Royal Victoria Marathon. Top left: BCNU campaigns officer Cindy Whiting and South Islands region council member Leanne Robertson-Weeds getting ready for over 7,000 runners and walkers. Top middle: Spectrum Community School leadership student hands out water at the BCNU station. Top right: Whiting cheers the last participant over the finish line. Bottom: Over 20 South Islands region members meet early to set up the BCNU water station.

Read the report The concerning rise of corporate medicine on your mobile device.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE CHECK IN

MANY HANDS UNITED

Members step up to run in steward elections

STEWARDS ARE the heart of BCNU. These members play key leadership roles in the organizations, and once every three years they are elected by their peers. The current three-year term began on July 1, following this spring’s steward elections.

BCNU Simon Fraser regional council member Tristan Newby chairs the union’s Member Engagement and Steward Recruitment and Retention (MESRR) committee that’s tasked with overseeing the elections.

Newby says he was pleased to see returning and potential new stewards stepping up

during the May 16-20 nomination period. “Nurses are facing incredible daily pressure within a health-care system in crisis. It is inspiring to see individuals take on leadership roles in their workplaces to support their colleagues.”

The union organized a virtual townhall panel in May, ahead of the nomination period. The event was a first for BCNU steward elections and saw three seasoned stewards share their experiences and take questions from members considering running in their worksite election.

“The intention of the townhall was to create a safe space for all members to ask any questions about stewardship,” explains Newby, who hosted

the event. “The panel consisted of stewards from across the province with experience ranging from one to 10 years.

All questions were taken live and the panelists shared their lived experience, the good, the bad and the ugly.”

Voting took place electronically from June 7-10, using VOGO, a third-party voting service provider. Election results are posted by region on the BCNU member portal.

Following the elections, BCNU hosted two online steward welcome events on July 19. “We want these to be more regular events. Whether you are in Smithers or Sechelt, we are all on the same team, and we are stronger when we learn from each other,” says Newby.

BCNU stewards help members address problems and communicate vital information about issues concerning their worksite and their profession. Newby says the union is committed to providing them with ongoing educational opportunities to support them in this crucial role.

•

Find your workplace steward on the member portal.

NURSES AT CITY HALL

BCNU would like to recognize the union members elected to leadership positions in their communities following the Oct. 15 municipal elections. Congratulations to the successful candidates who will surely bring the perspective of nurses to local government!

Elected nurses include the City of North Vancouver’s Linda Buchanan (mayor) and Lailani Tumaneng (school trustee), Prince Rupert’s Teri Forster (councillor) and Duncan’s Stacy Middlemiss (councillor).

HELPING HANDS This spring BCNU members across the province elected the co-workers who represent them in their workplaces.

Linda Buchanan

Teri Forster

Stacy Middlemiss

Lailani Tumaneng

GETTING CONNECTED

SUMMER IS A TIME FOR people to get out into the community and reconnect with the people they know. Organizations also take advantage of the sunny days to engage with and listen to its members.

Summer traditionally saw the BCNU bus travel the province to attend various festivals and outdoor events. The union’s provincial leadership would often be on-hand to host meetings and hear from members first-hand about the issues in their worksites and working lives. But face-to-face member engagement throughout the province had been put on hold since the early

days of the COVID-19 pandemic, after public health restrictions put a stop to union-led in-person visits at worksites, education and information sessions and other regional activities.

Now as life begins to return to normal, BCNU leaders have wasted no time re-connecting, listening and learning from members who have been pushed to their limit in the midst of an unprecedented health-care crisis. One of several province-wide member engagement initiatives took place midJuly, when senior leadership touched down in Kamloops for two days of meetings with members, community interest holders and Interior Health representatives. The trip garnered

in-depth media coverage on various local television and radio stations, as BCNU President Aman Grewal told reporters about the realities faced by members working at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) and in other facilities and programs in the region.

The main priority of the visit, however, was to reconnect with RIH nurses, many who had earlier reported soaring patient loads due to temporary emergency room closures in nearby communities, such as Clearwater, Ashcroft and Merritt. The domino effect of these closures has seen staffing at RIH fall to dangerously low levels, leaving areas of the hospital such as the ER and ICU operating at 50 percent overcapacity, and negatively affecting patient care.

Grewal says the staffing crisis combined with increased patient needs throughout the region has resulted in a perfect storm that’s left many nurses who work at the tertiary hospital

NURSES UNITED BCNU Pacific Rim region members were joined by BCNU’s provincial executive and members of the public at a spirited rally in Campbell River on Aug. 10. They were there to raise awareness about the nurse staffing crisis and mounting pressure on the health-care system.

This summer saw BCNU leaders meeting with members across the province

burnt out and demoralized.

“Nurses were telling us their working conditions are especially bad right now, and we knew that making the trip to Kamloops to listen to members needed to happen,” she says, adding that conditions at RIH are much the same in other healthcare facilities in the province.

to speak for them – to bring their stories to our meetings with government, in media interviews and to the bargaining table.”

On Vancouver Island, Campbell River’s North Island Hospital is another major facility that’s frequently overcapacity. Ongoing temporary closures at nearby Port McNeil, Port Hardy, and Alert Bay hospitals means patients in these communities are being re-directed to Campbell River.

these stories with the public as part of an awareness campaign to support the union’s bargaining efforts.

BCNU President Aman Grewal

Grewal and other BCNU leaders are looking forward to visiting other worksites. “In fact, it is our commitment that between now and the end of the year, we are going to try and speak to as many of our members as we can,” she says.

Province-wide member engagement activities have also included the recording and collecting of nurses’ stories. BCNU often acts as the voice of members whose employers tell them they cannot talk publicly about their concerns over patient care and working conditions. Grewal is hopeful these first-hand accounts will help sound the alarm on nurses’ deteriorating working conditions and the dire need for government action to effectively address the nurse shortage in the province.

“We know that there are thousands of nurses who want to speak out about what is happening on the ground, but can’t,” says Grewal. “We want nurses to know that we are here

“At times North Island Hospital operates at 140 to 145 percent capacity, all while having only 60 to 70 percent of the nurses that would be normally scheduled to work,” reports BCNU Vice President Adriane Gear.

Gear invited Campbell River nurses to a townhall meeting in early August, where they had the opportunity to engage with members of the BCNU Pacific Rim region executive team and the union’s Provincial Executive Committee. Like previous summer engagement activities, this gathering was designed to foster open dialogue in a relaxed atmosphere. Not surprisingly, nurses in attendance echoed the cries of their colleagues throughout BC: they are chronically understaffed, face unacceptable workplace violence, experience worsening mental health challenges, and worry about their ability to provide safe patient care.

Campbell River nurses also took the opportunity to confidentially share their stories with BCNU leaders. “We want to be a megaphone for nurses, amplify their voice and share their stories, because the general public deserves to know what’s transpiring within their health-care system,” argues Gear, who says plans are underway to share snippets of

Following the townhall, the Campbell River nurses and others from surrounding communities were joined by members of the public for a rally to show support for their local nurses and raise awareness about the mounting pressure on the healthcare system. A brief downpour wasn’t enough to dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm as people participated in many rounds of chants led by Gear and BCNU Pacific Rim region council member Kelley Charters.

BCNU Vice President Adriane Gear

“The response from the public who came out to show their appreciation and support was uplifting, as was the comradery shown by so many passionate nurses,” says Charters.

BCNU Pacific Rim region executive members and the union’s provincial executive team later travelled south, where they met with nurses working in the ER at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH). This strong and tight-knit team has endured the departure of numerous

“We are going to speak to as many of our members as we can.”

“We want to be a megaphone for nurses, because the public deserves to know what’s transpiring within their healthcare system.”

colleagues over the past year – and replacements have yet to be found. Like many other large hospitals in the province, NRGH’s ER has also seen patient numbers soar as smaller hospitals in nearby Port Alberni, Ladysmith, and Chemainus face temporary closures, which only compounds the critical staffing shortage.

“These nurses’ passion for providing care for those in need is being overshadowed by an inability to do just that without the necessary time, resources, and staff,” says Gear, noting that work has already begun to create an awareness campaign focused on ER units, and to help drive members of the public to www. helpbcnurses.ca – all with the goal of increasing pressure on the government.

By the end of the year, BCNU leaders will have travelled to communities in the Interior, the Kootenays and the North, bringing nurses together, holding brainstorming sessions with community leaders, and garnering media coverage to help build public support.

Grewal encourages nurses to attend the education meetings when they take place in their communities, consider sharing a story of their own and to get involved in their union.

“We know it has been an incredibly difficult two and a half years, working through two public health crises – the pandemic and toxic drug crisis – and dealing with extreme weather events and the staffing crisis,” she says. “We are here to listen to our members and be their voice as they strive to put patients first.” •

A MAKEOVER AND TWO NEW SIDEKICKS

PEOPLE ATTENDING A BCNU MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

ACTIVITY

THIS YEAR may have noticed a new vehicle on the scene. BCNU has added two new vans to its fleet. These vehicles join the union’s recently refreshed campaign bus, and together will allow for a stronger presence at more member engagement activities – and across more regions.

Stuffed full of the latest BCNU promotional materials, and ready with loudspeakers and tents for rainy days, the new vans are covered with photos of hard-working nurses, and hard to miss. If you happen to spot one of these vehicles at your worksite, be sure to stop by and say hello.

TOGETHER AGAIN

THIS SUMMER SAW BCNU MEMBERS COME TOGETHER and meet with elected union leaders for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic’s public health restrictions put a stop to large in-person gatherings. From Kamloops to Campbell River and the Kootenays, the BCNU bus and vans have been on hand at various worksites, and art events like townhall meetings and rallies to call attention to the worsening practice and working conditions nurses endure in the midst of a staffing crisis.

Now is the time to get involved, and get ready to stand together as nurses prepare to bargain a new provincial collective agreement in the months ahead. Visit the events calendar at www.bcnu.org and find out when the next BNCU event is happening in your region.

THE PEOPLE

1. South Islands region members celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day June 21. 2. Members attend BCNU rally in Campbell River Aug. 10. From left: Janice Baikie, Darrell Adams, Josh Collins. 3. Royal Columbian Hospital nurses attend BCNU Simon Fraser region’s June 13 “mini regional” event. 4. North East region members attend Sept.  20 BCNU rally in Fort St. John. From left: Amanda De Smit, Keltje Cawker, and Ben Xiang.

5. Fort St. John firefighters join BCNU leaders at the union’s Sept 20 rally. 6. Shaughnessy Heights region members celebrate BCNU Day June 11. From left: Bal

Fajardo, Claudette Jut, Natasha Milne, Ana Samper. 7. BCNU Vice President Adriane Gear speaks at Campbell River rally Aug. 10. 8. BCNU Executive Councillor Aida Herrera meets with members of Nanaimo Regional General Hospital’s ER team. 9. BCNU President Aman Grewal speaks to members at Sept. 20 rally in Fort St. John. 10. Fort St. John Hospital nurse Sheila McLeod is joined by her grandchildren at Sept. 20 rally. 11. Nurses rally in Campbell River demanding action from government. 12. The public joins BCNU members in Campbell River on Aug. 10 to show their support for nurses.

HEALTH CARE ON THE BRINK

FOR NURSES IN BC, working short-staffed is nothing new. When forced to work short over and over, they are left anxious, disengaged and without the ability – or time – to connect with their patients, families, colleagues and managers.

Low nurse-to-patient ratios, shift duration – often with huge amounts of unplanned overtime – compassion fatigue and a lack of resources all contribute to an overwhelming number of nurses feeling they can’t go on, says BCNU Vice President Adriane Gear.

“If nurses aren’t supported in their work and don’t feel heard and appreciated, they won’t be interested in staying,” Gear explains. “The relentless moral distress is taking a toll on our members, and they will leave the profession altogether if this situation is not rectified.”

Factor in the long-term fatigue of the COVID-19 pandemic and BC’s health-care system now stands on the brink of a staffing disaster. In the

midst of it all, nurses are speaking to the union about unprecedented levels of depression, workplace violence and PTSD. Many are reporting imminent personal burnout.

With the crisis looming ever larger, many nurses are wondering if the public truly understands the human cost of inaction, and why the government has yet to step up and implemented a comprehensive health human resource strategy.

BC currently has over 5,000 unfilled nursing positions causing a wave of rotating ER closures, longer wait times and increased instances of hallway nursing. It all leads to stressed nurses and frustrated patients. According to the 2021–2031 BC Labour Market Outlook, as many as 35,000 nurses are considering leaving the profession entirely, and this number continues to climb while the system crumbles.

It’s now widely estimated that BC will require more than 26,000 nurses to fill vacant positions by 2031.

NURSES CAN’T TELL THEIR STORIES, BUT THEIR UNION CAN

Many nurses talk about fear of retaliation from employers, or of being reprimanded or made to appear personally incompetent as reasons for staying silent about the realities they face.

This spring, BCNU provided a new opportunity for these members to speak up safely and without fear of recognition or retaliation from their employers.

The union created a series of short video vignettes to share nurses’ stories with the public and government policy makers who are in a position to effect real change.

Some of these stories are bleak while others speak to nurses’ enduring hope. All are deeply personal accounts of a day in the life of a BCNU member. The participants remain anonymous, but their voices have now been amplified.

•

BCNU gives members a voice in the midst of a historic nursing crisis

LISTEN TO OUR STORIES

Nurses from across the province are speaking out about the impacts of the nurse staffing shortage on patient care.

*Names changed to protect identities and job.

Jason*

Nurse with over 5 years of experience

Brenda* Nurse with more than 10 years of experience

Lauren*

Nurse with over 2 years of experience

Raj* Nurse with over 5 years

TAKE ACTION!

Now, it’s your turn!

USE YOUR MOBILE DEVICE AND JOIN THE THOUSANDS OF NURSES who are using their voices to call for change. Email your MLA to share your personal experience and call on the government to support BC’s nurses and the patients they care for.

When united around a cause, nurses are an effective voice for real change and a better public health-care system for all!

“I leave work and I don’t have anything left for my family.”

“The cracks were always there prior to COVID, but the glue is no longer able to hold it together.”

“These problems have been persisting for a long time. Now, we’ve reached a crisis point.”

“At work, I feel like I’m drowning.”

of experience

A NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION

IT IS GOING TO TAKE STRENGTH in numbers to address the national nurse staffing crisis and come up with solutions that will improve a health-care system that’s nearing collapse. This was the message nurses delivered to premiers during this year’s Council of the Federation meeting, which took place this July in Victoria.

Since 2003, the annual event gathers Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial premiers together with the objective of fostering a constructive relationship among the provinces and territories, and with the federal government. The two-day summit focused on a number of economic and social issues, but increased health-care funding from the federal government was at the top of this year’s agenda.

All premiers pushed the federal government to increase the Canada Health Transfer to help alleviate current pressures, address the systemic nurse and doctor shortage, and halt the deterioration of patient care. They said the increase was needed to reverse Ottawa’s declining share of health-care spending at a time that’s critical for the county’s most valued public program.

When public health-care was first established in Canada, the federal government contributed 50 percent of the costs. This percentage has decreased

over time. The provinces are now calling on the federal government to increase its share from 22 to 35 percent.

Nurse leaders from across the country were invited to the premiers’ meeting, and the two-day event was the first time in years that nurses had the ear of key government leaders at the annual gathering.

The event was also an opportunity for BCNU to strengthen its renewed relationship with the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), as BCNU leaders joined their counterparts from other provincial nursing unions in a unified call for all government to address a crisis that’s impacting nurses, patients and all health-care workers from coast to coast to coast.

CFNU used the occasion for the launch of its new campaign to engage premiers and the public around actions needed to fix the health crisis (see sidebar).

“Premiers are meeting at a critical moment for Canada’s health-care system. Our public system teeters on the brink of disaster. If governments at all levels don’t act now, we risk system-wide collapse,” said CFNU President Linda Silas. “Whether it’s on a billboard, in a newspaper or online, as the Council of the Federation gathers, we are going to make sure premiers hear the voices of nurses loud and clear.”

BCNU President Aman Grewal accompanied Silas and other provincial nurse leaders at a breakfast meeting with premiers on the first day of the event. Grewal was seated next to the conference host, BC premier John Horgan. She took the opportunity to explain what BC’s nurse shortage looks like and how it’s directly impacting patients around the province.

“I provided first-hand examples of what happens when there aren’t enough nurses,” she says. “And I told him how nurses are affected by the temporary closures of emergency departments, service disruptions and, in some cases, witnessing dire patient outcomes as a result.”

BCNU’s renewed relationship with CFNU will open the door to more collaboration on issues like the growing staff shortage, unsafe working conditions and a crumbling health-care

BCNU joins nurses’ unions across Canada in a unified call for government action to address the health staffing crisis

NURSES UNITED BCNU President Aman Grewal (centre) and leaders from seven provincial nurses’ unions joined Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President Linda Silas (left) for a July 11 meeting with provincial premiers at the annual Council of the Federation meeting in Victoria.

“Nurses sitting at the table together and sharing our collective voice on this crisis is a really important step toward getting government to listen.”

system that continues to challenge communities everywhere.

Grewal says she noticed immediately after sitting down with nursing leaders that every province is dealing with similar challenges.

“Whether you are a nurse in Prince Edward Island, Ontario, or here in BC, nurses are struggling,” she added. “The fact that we are sitting at the table together, sharing our collective voice on this crisis, is a really important step toward getting government to listen.”

Silas says the new CFNU campaign will bring the stark reality facing Canada’s frontline nurses to the premiers while also engaging Canada’s leaders around concrete proposals to address staffing shortages, better support nurses, improve patient care and protect public health care.

“It’s time for federal, provincial and territorial governments to listen to frontline nurses and work with us on urgent solutions. We have no time to waste,” she told reporters at the meeting.

Nurses are proposing new targeted funding, with real accountability,” said Silas. “We are presenting the premiers and the federal government with proposals that will start turning things around now, and make sure public health care is there for future generations of Canadians.”

Silas explained that Canada’s nurses are proposing solutions designed around three Rs: retain, return and recruit. She added that nurses are ready to work with governments but warned that time is getting short.

“Solutions begin with retaining the nurses we do have, returning departing nurses to the profession, and recruiting the next generation of nurses into a healthy and safe workplace where they can be proud of the quality care they provide to patients.”

Grewal says BCNU and other nurses’ unions support the provinces’ demand

that Ottawa pony up more money for health care, but she notes that the findings must come with conditions to ensure it is used to strengthen our public health-care system.

“We are concerned that provinces are not being held accountable for federal funding made available through the Canada Health Transfer, which is regulated under the Canada Health Act ,” says Grewal. “Federal funding needs to come with firm accountability and transparency mechanisms, and should not be used to expand forprofit delivery of care.”

Grewal notes that some provincial governments have used the cover of COVID-19 to expand the private provision of health-care services including surgical and diagnostic procedures, long-term care and out-patient care. Many of these same governments have said they will refuse to participate in the planned expansion of the national medicare umbrella to include pharmacare and dental care.

“People in British Columbia, like others in Canada, want and deserve a public health-care system that is based on patient need, not on wealth,” she argues. “Increased federal funding to tackle the health staffing crisis must not be used to pay down provincial deficits, cut taxes or create more profits for private interests counter to the Canada Health Act.” •

CANADA’S NURSES HAVE A CLEAR message for our nation’s leaders: our public health care systems are in crisis. At the heart of this crisis is a dire shortage of nurses and other health professionals.

The effects are being felt in every community, province, and territory across Canada. We’re already seeing hospitals forced to cut services or shut down entirely because of critical shortages of nurses and doctors.

We didn’t get here by accident. Today’s crisis is the result of years of underinvestment, inadequate planning and weakened or fragmented regulation.

Without concerted action from federal, provincial and territorial governments, these alarming trends will not only continue, but could potentially threaten the future of Canadian health care.

Let’s be clear: There is no health care without health-care workers. There is no health-care without nurses.

Canada needs bold leadership to tackle the nursing shortage. The CFNU urgently calls on Prime Minister Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland to convene a meeting of First Ministers from across the country to discuss critical priorities, including urgently needed strategies to retain and recruit healthcare workers.

TAKE ACTION TO SOLVE CANADA’S NURSING SHORTAGE! Add your voice

“If governments at all levels don’t act now, we risk system-wide collapse.”

CFNU President Linda Silas

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN THE WORKPLACE

WHY RING THE BELL WHEN WELL?

Cancer

patients’ bell is the focus of Prince George nurses’ research project

DUSTIN MACKAY IS used to hearing cancer patients ring the bell at BC Cancer’s Centre for the North. Patients at the Prince George facility, like those in many other hospitals and clinics in Canada, can choose to ring the bell to mark the end of chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

However, not every cancer patient sees the bell as a celebration.

According to Mackay, three years ago some patients expressed concerns about the bell’s location in the systemic therapy unit, an area that’s accessible to other patients being treated. He recalls that requests to move the bell away from treatment areas had brought up a lot of feelings from patients and staff.

Mackay then had the idea of researching the experiences of people undergoing cancer treatment and who witness other patients ringing the bell. But, like most nurses working in BC’s stretched health-care system, he had little time and few resources to engage in any formal investigation that would help answer his questions.

Fortunately, his employer had recently launched a practice-

PHOTO: GILES PALMER

WORKING RESEARCHERS Prince George nurses Dustin Mackay, Grace Cole and Ava Hatcher make up one of five funded research teams in BC Cancer’s practice-based research challenge inaugural 2019 cohort. They are completing their research on cancer patients’ bell this year.

based research program that encourages and supports nurses and other health-care workers who wish to investigate an area of professional interest.

Mackay is a systemic therapy nurse and radiation therapy nurse. His work involves the planning and provision of comprehensive care to patients and their families receiving chemotherapy and biotherapy drugs. He wasted no time exploring this new learning opportunity.

Practice-based research is focused on answering every day clinical practice questions for the improvement of patient care. It has been well established that point-of-care clinicians like Mackay are ideally positioned to engage in this research. That’s important, given that so much evidence is presently generated by academic researchers who are removed from care environments.

BC Cancer’s Practice-based Research Challenge is working to build connections between clinical practice and research by letting teams identify clinical issues and find evidence-based answers through research projects related to day-to-day work.

Each year interested BC Cancer employees across the province are encouraged to form teams and submit a letter of intent. After receiving initial acceptance, the teams spend the first half of the year in the training stage, where they learn about literature reviews, refining a research question, developing the research topic and submitting the research proposal to a research ethics board for review. They also learn about different types of research methodologies, and how

to find mentors and patient partners to support development of the research project. The teams submit their research proposals to a review committee and five funded projects are selected to proceed. An ethics application process takes another six months, and the research is then conducted over the course of the following year.

Mackay, along with fellow RN and co-worker Grace Cole and RN Ava Hatcher, who’s presently lead for professional practice nursing at Northern Health, formed a team in 2018. They were among the first employees to submit their letter of intent and were part of the inaugural 2019 cohort.

ring it. They also wondered how the patients’ experience could inform the way clinicians provide education for staff and patients about the use of the bell.

They then developed a research proposal that involved examining the experiences of people undergoing cancer treatment who observe other patients ringing the bell. The three were selected as one of the five teams in 2019 and were awarded $5,000 to help fund their research.

“It’s not looking at the patients who are ringing the bell but patients who are actively sitting in a chair or a waiting room,” Mackay says of the research. “They hear the bell being rung. What kind of emotions does that bring up?”

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a delay in data collection and participant interviews, but the team is now working on their final paper and plan to submit it to nursing journals for publication. In the meantime, they had the opportunity to make a presentation at last year’s BC Cancer Summit and will be presenting their research at the Canadian Association of Nursing and Oncology conference this October in Victoria.

The team completed a literature review on the topic of the bells use in cancer care. They found there were some opinion articles and stories of patients who had shared their experiences with the bell, but there was no research in this area.

As point-of-care nurses, Mackay, and Cole knew there was value for patients who wanted to ring the bell, but they were curious about how patients on treatment were impacted when watching others

Some of the research findings the team shared described how patients were affected emotionally when witnessing others ring the bell, describing emotions for themselves and the other patients. The emotions for self were positive and joyful while those for others were described as being more complex, and involved happiness and worry or concern.

The bell at Prince George’s cancer centre remains in a public area located near the main entrance

“They hear the bell being rung. What kind of emotions does that bring up?”

Dustin Mackay

CHANNEL YOUR INNER

RESEARCHER

WANT

TO LEARN BASIC RESEARCH SKILLS

and work with a mentor to develop a research proposal around a research question developed in your practice setting? Practicebased Research Challenges are annual programs that provide training, mentorship, and funding to help clinicians develop and conduct research projects inspired by their practice and the desire to improve patient care.

BC Cancer and Providence Health Care both offer nurses and others a chance to learn about research methods and work with a mentor to develop a proposal around a research question developed in the practice setting. BCNU provides $5,000 each year to both initiatives and to support members on a selected team.

Find out how you can get involved:

BC Cancer Employees

The Research Challenge is open to nonphysician employees of BC Cancer who have little or no research experience and have limited opportunities to get funding and training to lead research projects. Teams must be two or more people and at least one member must be a point-of-care staff. A new intake of this program is usually announced each December.

Find out more here.

Providence Health Care Employees

Since 2010, the annual PHC Practicebased Research Challenge competition has been open to point-of-care PHC staff. The Research Challenge offers research teams the opportunity to work with a mentor to develop a research proposal around a research question. They will learn basic research skills and compete with other teams for funding to conduct a small-scale research project.

Find out more here.

Ava Hatcher

to the building. The team’s research goal is not to have the bell relocated, but to learn more about the patient experience and share their research within oncology communities. The team hopes their research will encourage other facilities to think about how the bell is used and explained to patients.

As their project reaches the end of its journey, the team is praising the research challenge for encouraging nursing staff to think about research that could make a tangible difference in the lives of their patients while allowing them to hone their nursing research skills as they work. “The value of this program is in the way it highlights the importance of nursing knowledge, and it makes space and time for that,” Hatcher says.

Mackay, Cole and Hatcher are also grateful for the support they’ve received from program staff as they completed their research. “It has been very step-by-step. They’ve helped us along the way to get to those steps,” says Cole.

The three speak highly of their

mentors who were always available to advise and reassure them when they had concerns about the research process.

Cole and Mackay are planning to continue to use the skills they have gained through participation in the research challenge, and both are exploring entering master’s programs.

They also encourage other nurses to consider the research challenge.

“My advice would be to just talk with your peers and talk with your leadership team because that’s essentially the route that I took,” says Mackay. “Figure out if there are other nurses who might be interested in a similar topic or even just doing research in general.”

Cole suggests reaching out to other teams from previous years to talk about the experience and workload.

To date, BC Cancer’s practice-based research challenge has provided training on the various stages of the research process to 28 nurses and 34 allied health professionals. The program is currently funding 10 teams, three of which are led by registered nurses.

BCNU began supporting members participating in the research challenge in 2020, with an annual contribution of $5,000 that’s available to be awarded to teams that include nurses. The union has been funding a similar initiative at Providence Health Care since 2010. By providing funding to both organizations, BCNU is continuing to work toward its goal of expanding research collaborations.

•

“The value of this program is in the way it highlights the importance of nursing knowledge.”

GUIDING LIGHTS

BCNU

ACTIVIST PROFILE

BCNU THOMPSON NORTH Okanagan region’s Adigo Angela Achoba-Omajali is passionate about providing care for those in need – and standing up against all forms of inequality. After personally experiencing discrimination within the health-care system, and witnessing others enduring the same, Achoba-Omajali turned to BCNU for tools to combat inequality.

Today, the nurse of 11 years works as a clinical practice educator at the Kamloops Hillside Interior Adult Psychiatric Centre. Achoba-Omajali also serves as the professional responsibility advocate on her regional executive. And she’s spent the last seven years as a

steward, with two of them as the TNO region steward-at-large – a role that concluded this May. She says all of the roles she’s held are a means of acquiring more tools in the fight for equality.

Achoba-Omajali’s engagement with BCNU began at a regional meeting, where she first spoke with then-regional chair Tracy Quewezance. “She just kept talking to me, ‘Do you want to be a steward?’ She would come and bug me at lunchtime, ‘Do you want to be a steward?’” recalls Achoba-Omajali.

Achoba-Omajali credits her union activism for improving her communication skills and giving her tools to be more assertive when needed. “I took those tools with me into meetings when

advocating for nurses in our region,” she says, adding that knowledge she’d gained helped her when forming a coalition against anti-Black racism.

Achoba-Omajali currently sits on the Canadian Nurses Association’s Anti-Racism Advisory Council and is part of the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association’s Anti-Racism Working Group. Her work is focused on anti-racism, but she says she can’t tolerate any form of discrimination. “It brings out the momma bear in me,” she remarks.

It is evident that Achoba-Omajali’s limitless passion will continue to benefit patients and nurses, and push for the elimination of all forms of discrimination in the health-care system. •

10 QUESTIONS WITH ADIGO ANGELA ACHOBA-OMAJALI

What is one word you would use to describe yourself?

Caring.

If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?

Nothing. I just want to strive to improve being the best version of myself. There is always room for improvement while not trying to be anyone else – just trying to be the best version of me.

What is one thing about you that people would be surprised to learn?

I was on Family Feud Canada – just last year: season three, episode 26. Where did you go on your last vacation?

I just came back from New York!

Name one place in the world you’d most like to visit.

Madagascar. The imagery that I have seen on the internet and in movies – I need to spend at least a month there.

What was the last good thing you read?

British Columbia’s Action Plan for African Descent Communities.

What was the best piece of career advice you’ve received?

Be open to learning. Be open to being a lifelong learner. Being open to learning because you can never gain too much knowledge. Fill yourself with knowledge so that you can give to others, whether that’s helping younger nurses or simply helping patients in the communities we serve.

What do you like most about being a nurse?

Being able to advocate for patients, fellow nurses, and for the whole community – especially, where individuals encounter discrimination.

What do you like least about being a nurse?

There is nothing that I dislike about the profession. However, being a nurse right now is incredibly challenging because of the health-care crisis. Whether you’re on the front-line, a supervisor, or working any other capacity – it’s a challenge.

Name one change you would like to make to the health system.

I would like to see a health-care system that is equitable: providing the highest standard of care to all, irrespective of their race, age, gender, sexuality, their physical and mental abilities. I want to see a world where everyone is cared for because they’re human beings.

THE PRACTICE OF EMBODIMENT

New education resources help members manage the stress and trauma in today’s health-care workplace

THE DEMANDS PLACED on nurses at worksites around the province are unrelenting. Amid a worsening staffing shortage and growing patient acuity, BCNU members are struggling to keep their heads above water in the wake of a COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing toxic drug crisis.

There is no question that nurses are vulnerable to the trauma and moral distress that come with this new healthcare reality. Last year, a staggering 82 percent of members polled reported their mental health had worsened since the pandemic.

That’s why psychological health safety has never been more important.

To better support members, BCNU launched the Embodying Your Practice (EYP) education program in June 2021, in partnership with somatic educators Anita Chari and Angelica Singh. It began with a series of webinars that saw participants examining principles

of nervous system regulation, trauma-informed practice, and equity and inclusion work to help them cultivate resilience.

These were followed by Introduction to Embodying Your Practice, an on-demand course in trauma-informed and embodied practices for nurses that has helped participants settle their nervous systems by recognizing and navigating feelings of overwhelm, trauma, and burnout while building and sustaining feelings of calm.

EYP is designed to provide participants with effective tools and protocols to help manage the stress of today’s health-care workplace. The EYP resources are just one part of the educational offerings provided through BCNU’s mental health strategy and are designed to support and strengthen members’ psychological safety and mental well-being.

Aida Herrera is BCNU’s executive councillor for heath and safety. She

says that health employers are legally obligated to provide psychologically healthy workplaces, and notes that BCNU and other health-care unions have done much to hold employers to account and advance safety on the job (see the feature story on page 26 about BCNU’s work to strengthen and support workplace joint occupational health and safety committees). However, Herrera also says BCNU won’t wait for employers while members continue to suffer.

“We wanted to continue with our commitment to provide mental health supports and resources to our members,” she explains. “This education is just the first phase in the reactivation of BCNU’s mental health strategy, and I look forward to providing more mental health support and advocacy for our members in the year ahead.”

EYP is a team effort between BCNU and Chari and Singh, co-founders of Embodying Your Curriculum, a popular program first created to support post-secondary educators. Chari and Singh are both excited to be delivering EYP to BCNU members.

“We empower nurses,” says Chari. “During the pandemic, nurses have not been provided with resources for self-care. Moral distress is very real and we designed this course to give BCNU members some nourishment to navi-

gate those places within themselves,” she explains. “We are meeting nurses personally and serving them during a time of so much burnout.”

Chari stresses the attention to equity that runs through EYP.

“We work with nurses of colour and Indigenous nurses on social injustices in the health-care system, which they’re always navigating. They’re not just handling those issues with patients, but also with themselves, and within institutions and health-care systems,” she remarks.

“These are very challenging issues that touch on historical oppression and trauma and our work with BCNU members delves into that. It’s not only education about addressing trauma, but also how that works within systems, and in terms of historical injustice. We help nurses connect all those dots.”

As an educator, Singh says she feels privileged to help those who help everybody else, and to take the time to dignify their experiences.

“We help nurses decompress, vent, and feel comfortable, seen and heard – all things essential to humanity,” she says. “What matters is making sure that those working in health care – in the trenches, taking all the hits for everybody else – are also getting their needs met. We work to be present with BCNU members, to help them first feel their own dignity.”

In an EYP course or webinar, the facilitators encourage participants to become aware of what it means to be grounded in their own bodies and contact the health of who they are, instead of the pathology.

“That may sound really simple, but it’s very difficult,” says Singh. “We live in a very colonized, pathologizing world, particularly in the medical system. But when people are at a crisis point, they are more able to access the different levels of vulnerability and connection that we need,” she explains.

Both facilitators believe it’s import-

ant for nurses to recognize they’re not just a cog in the machine of meeting other people’s needs.

Singh explains: “It’s not just about ‘coping strategies’ and ‘resiliency’. That all sounds really great, but those words function within the same system where somebody can take away your agency. We want language that re-dignifies how nurses are heard, how they communicate, and how they listen to themselves and others. It’s about how we participate without losing ourselves to the frustration and powerlessness of systems designed to take our best and leave us empty. For nurses that’s particularly true, and so obvious during the pandemic.”

burning sensation, just for a moment, and to do this exercise with yourself is an embodiment practice – to slow down, make contact. From that quality of neutrality is a discharge that begins to metabolize or digest stress.

“We don’t need a psychological or emotional narrative because it doesn’t easily move the energy around. That’s the process of regulation and the practice of embodiment. It happens through the gateway of slowing down and grounding, learning to inquire with neutral language and communicating in a way that re-dignifies and attunes a nurse’s relationship to self. If we first learn that contact with ourselves, we can proceed to co-regulating with others, including patients. And that level of presence informs the other person’s nervous system of how safe and regulating they can be too,” says Singh.

Anita Chari

Chari and Singh employ person-centered language, absent of labelling, and make open inquiries to help nurses develop a nuanced sense of their own experiences and sensations.

“When we slow down,” explains Singh, “and name our particulars using sensation words instead of typical words like ‘fear’ or ‘anxiety’, we contact ourselves differently. The naming skill is a skill of regulation – it’s a down-regulating of the nervous system that discharges the trauma and imprinting causing so much of the ‘rev’ in the nervous system.”

She illustrates. “Somebody might say: ‘I’m really stressed! I feel really angry or anxious.’ I ask: ‘Where do you most feel it?’ They respond: ‘I feel a burning sensation in my shoulders.’ I ask if it’s okay to just feel the edge of that

Chari adds another layer. “The emerging language lets us understand how our emotional state is so connected with the larger structure. Many of us are taught our emotions and mental health are our fault, our own business,” she says. “That’s a very toxic idea because we aren’t educated to see that our own mental distress has everything to do with how a structure deals with issues of power around equality, justice, and history. From Embodying Your Practice, we emerge into a co-regulated field, and we see that an unhealthy system is saddling nurses with stress and responsibility rather than helping us to see the proper responsibility of an institution, of a society.

“When individuals bear too much up front – such as nurses in a pandemic –that contributes to burnout. We’re not here to strengthen you for an exploitative system – it’s about educating you to serve yourself and move into a more co-creative, more relational, more just health-care system,” Chari says.

Singh recalls something unique they found working with BCNU members.

“It was remarkable how nurses’

“Nurses are having very deep, painful experiences daily.”

HEALTH & SAFETY

dynamics were much deeper than most people’s. They’re more capable of accessing deeper levels of resonance, attunement, and health, all of which is required for embodied transformation at a community level. It was both a surprise and yet, not a surprise. We saw that the nurses are literally warriors, arming up to the level required for what they’re dealing with – to care for people – and then to see how incredibly resourced they are because of their profession, because they’re helpers in service to others,” she reports. “It was a real blessing to see, and working with BC nurses has been profound.”

Chari says she also found something “cool” about working with BCNU members. “They’re very real with us, down to earth about their struggles. That kind of openness and conversation is rare,” she

remarks. “The nurses are having very deep, painful experiences daily, or multiple times a day. I was honoured by how open they were about their experience.”

Is everyone an open book?

“It’s like popcorn,” Singh describes. “They don’t all pop at once. But there really was a remarkable amount of availability. When you’re in survival mode, you develop defenses to tolerate it and your nervous system goes into dissociative states. Your adrenals are exhausted and there may be no bandwidth for emotional connections,” she notes. “Despite this, BCNU members were remarkably available to each other as a group, and to themselves. When one person shares, it deepens the whole group. There are some incredibly intelligent and remarkably powerful people who are members of BCNU. They each have drawn on

their group social intelligence, and that’s empowering. We’ve been so fortunate to tap into that and provide our learning and resources to people who can genuinely benefit,” she says.

Glenna Lynch is a stewardat-large in BCNU’s West Kootenay region. She enrolled in Foundations of Embodying Your Practice and now encourages other members to do the same, convinced that the online self-paced course has been a tremendous learning experience.

“Sometimes I didn’t understand my own behaviour,” she says. “I’ll have an automatic response to certain things – and that’s my embodied behaviour, a result of somatic markers in the brain, the neuro pathways.

“This course taught me that our bodies can naturally heal emotionally as well as physically – you simply acknowledge they’re real and happening in your body. It’s like when you cut yourself: you don’t tell your body to heal, it just automatically mounts an immune response and heals! The same capacity exists for our emotional being. Simply being present and neutrally naming what you’re experiencing allows the natural healing process to happen. That was a huge epiphany for me. I was shown another way to self-regulate, and that’s a huge benefit to me, professionally and personally,” says Lynch.

The seasoned nurse says she’s really impressed that BCNU is offering this type of somatic education for members.

“It’s a way to help us address our physical and mental health so we can increase resiliency and, importantly, maintain our practice,” she states.

Lynch describes “boundary creation,” when asked to share one of the key skills she learned through EYP.

“Close your eyes, picture a bubble

SOMATIC EDUCATORS Anita Chari and Angelica Singh developed and deliver webinars and online courses designed to support and strengthen members’ psychological safety and mental well-being.

all around you, from your head to your toes, as big as you need it to be in order to feel like you have a safe space around you. When you sit within that bubble, you are maintaining personal boundaries,” she explains. “This helps when dealing with a crisis and someone else’s emotions – which are not your own. I learned there is a boundary between me and those things – the space between is a safe space to recharge.”

The facilitators reiterated that. We were on Zoom and were allowed to turn off video. But it’s an active, engaged process so seeing each other increases vulnerability and the resulting benefits. It was a very supportive environment. Sometimes we just sat quietly with each other as we worked through individual needs. Even on video, we could really feel the emotions present, and it felt like a safe space for all,” she says.

Lynch believes Embodying Your Practice is an extremely valuable personal health resource and recommends it to other BCNU members.

“It’s a tool I can engage anytime, anywhere, and take some time to just breathe and ground myself –even if I’m only on a coffee break. I now just close my eyes and simply engage with myself, to become more resilient…”

DID YOU KNOW?

EMBODYING YOUR PRACTICE IS NOW offered through the brand new BCNU Learning Centre – your new home for union education and professional development.

The Learning Centre is an online learning management system (LMS), a holistic onestop tool where you can easily manage course activities, collaborate with classmates, post in discussion forums, and track your progress – all aimed at improving your learning experience and helping you do your work.

“Neutral naming” is another skill Lynch is now using in her practice.

“It’s about grounding yourself and experiencing how your body feels,” she says. “A pain in your heel might be described as ‘a pressure in my heel.’ Our bodies make us feel things physically, but neutrally naming them activates related emotional healing to help alleviate the physical aspect. We must address internalized stress that presents as physical pain to help resolve all the physical and emotional components connected to it,” she says.

Lynch says she found comfort in the confidential learning space. “I knew a couple people in my group,” she says. “Right away, I acknowledged to myself and the rest that we were in a safe space where anything said does not go elsewhere.

At this moment in the conversation, Lynch closes her eyes while speaking, and holds them closed for 12 seconds before speaking again.

“…to be able to not just exist in health care, but to thrive.”

Since its launch, over 900 BCNU members have accessed EYP resources. And to better facilitate ongoing demand, future courses will be offered through BCNU’s new Learning Centre platform.

In addition to providing the successful on-demand resiliency course, Chari and Singh will host regular webinars throughout 2022 and 2023 to help build a BCNU community of practice. •

Contact education@bcnu.org for more information on the BCNU Learning Centre or assistance with course registration. For questions regarding EYP, please contact Melissaminter@ bcnu.org.

This fall BCNU is transitioning courses to the Learning Centre and expanding the suite of blended educational offerings. Given nurses’ schedules, busy lives, and travel challenges, these new, flexible deliveries will better serve BCNU members moving forward.

Introduction to Embodying Your Practice is the first on-demand, self-paced Learning Centre course, which features a variety of engaging, multi-sensory learning activities and a series of live support sessions.

To participate, you first need to create a user account on the Learning Centre and then apply for your chosen course.

View all available courses and apply using your mobile device.

If you have any questions, contact education@bcnu.org

“I was shown another way to self-regulate, and that’s a huge benefit.”

Glenna Lynch

SAFETY FIRST BCNU members are leaders when it comes to promoting safe and healthy workplaces. From left: BC Women’s Hospital steward Raj Johal, Okanagan-Similkameen region steward-at-large Cherish Anderson, Vancouver General Hospital full-time steward Sandra Ramos and Fischer Place, Mill Site Lodge steward Leah Takats.

JOINT EFFORT

OHS committee: To some, it’s just another of the many acronyms that nurses use within the course of their work. But for others, these four letters are the key to ensuring that their careers – and those of their co-workers – are as safe and rewarding as can be.

All workers in BC are affected by laws that govern the environments where they work. Both the province’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulations and the Workers’ Compensation Act contain legal requirements that must be met by all workplaces.

PHOTO: PETER HOLST

BCNU members are using joint occupational health and safety committees to help make their worksites safer for nurses and their patients

HEALTH & SAFETY

OHS regulations cover a large and ever-evolving variety of industries and economic sectors in BC. So it’s not hard to imagine the complexity of rules, policies and procedures that need to be in place to effectively protect workers.

The health-care sector is the perfect example of an industry that’s as varied as it is vast. So how can employers and workers ensure compliance with the OHS regulations governing health care? That’s where joint occupational health and safety (JOHS) committees come in. A JOHS committee consists of worker and employer reps working together to create and promote safe and healthy workplaces. This committee is where the job of implementing an effective health and safety program gets done.

Any BC employer with 20 or more regularly employed workers must establish and maintain a JOHS committee that meets monthly. If a collective agreement is in place, there may be a requirement to maintain a committee with fewer than 20 workers. At least half the members must be worker repre-

sentatives, and the committee must have two co-chairs, one selected by the worker representatives and the other selected by the employer representatives.

Rules that are on the books are one thing. Rules that are properly adhered to and enforced are often another matter. Fortunately, in BC, a majority of nurses and other health-care workers have the benefit of union membership – and this fact alone goes a long way to ensuring that workers’ right to effect meaningful change in their workplaces is protected.

BCNU Executive Councillor Aida Herrera

not stewards – can advocate to improving their colleagues’ working lives. Participation on their worksite JOHS committee is one of those ways.

BCNU is committed to our members’ safety, and the union provides significant resources to assist members and stewards who serve on JOHS committees. These members receive specialized OHS training that helps ensure that the duties and functions of JOHS committees comply with the Workers Compensation Act – the law governing occupation health and safety in BC.

Most working nurses are aware of the BCNU stewards at worksites across the province who advocate daily for their co-workers. These members are the first person a nurse can talk to whenever they’re concerned about their job or working conditions, and whether their employer or manager is complying with the terms of the collective agreement.

The handling of contract grievances that often revolve around staffing issues is one of the most commonly known steward functions.

However, there are many other ways that stewards –and even members who are

The role of a JOHS committee workers rep is unique, and many reps say they are drawn to the position because of the specific nature of the work involved, or discovered that the role was a good fit for them.

Cherish Anderson works at Penticton Regional Hospital. She’s also the BCNU Okanagan Similkameen region steward-at-large.

She was drawn to OHS advocacy early in her career after being assaulted by a patient and receiving no support from her manager.

“We didn’t have a lot of stewards in Penticton at the time, so I took a fairly active role right off the bat, and from there I got onto the JOHS committee because I felt that that is was a place where I could make a real difference,” says Anderson.

Today, she wants to ensure her JOHS committee is functioning effectively and complying with WorkSafeBC regulations. She’s also focused on recruiting more nurses to the committee. “I totally believe in teamwork,” she states. “The more people you have on your team, the more presence you have and the greater your ability to make changes.”

That teamwork, says Anderson, also means more people can see the con-

LINDSEY CAMPBELL

DUE DILIGENCE Kitimat steward Connie Kearley wants members to understand the importance of properly reporting and documenting worksite health and safety issues.

“JOHS committee reps say they enjoy the work because it can result in measurable change they can see in the workplace.”

PHOTO:

crete changes a JOHS committee achieves, whether it be a new policy or a piece of equipment. It also makes her work on the committee more rewarding than many other aspects of here work as a steward.

Aida Herrera is BCNU’s executive councillor responsible for health and safety. “Most JOHS committee reps say they enjoy the work they do because it can result in measurable change they can see in the workplace,” she says. “Other kinds of advocacy work, such as contract grievance handling, can often take a long time to resolve.”

Herrera says OHS reps who are stewards also appreciate the collaborative approach to the work they do with JOHS committee employer reps, versus the sometimes more adversarial nature of grievance handling. She argues that in a profession focused on caring for patients, it’s all too easy to forget about the health of workers – and that’s why occupational health and safety in the health care workplace is so important.

“The very mandate of the JOHS committee is to ensure that the employer provides a safe workplace for workers – not patients,” she stresses, noting the many other organizational structures in place to serve patients.

“As a profession it’s about making sure our members truly believe they have a right to a safe workplace – and that’s a culture shift,” she argues, saying that nurses often put themselves second. “Our patients come first –that’s the nature of the profession – but that doesn’t mean we deserve a second-rate work environment or tolerate risks such as exposure to violence that wouldn’t be tolerated in other industries and professions.”

Herrera says it should go without

saying that a safe work environment equals a safe care environment for patients.

JOHS committees are a cornerstone for effective health and safety programs, and provide a forum for collaboration, consultation, and participation at the workplace. When committee worker and employer reps agree that a course of action needs to be taken, written recommendations are then made to management.

There are many examples that show how workers, using JOHS committees, have secured point-ofcare solutions to make their workplaces safer and healthier.

100 Mile House’s Leah Takats is a long-term care nurse who works at Fischer Place, Mill Site Lodge, a 100-bed care facility adjacent to 100 Mile District General Hospital. The JOHS committee worker rep. is also a worksite steward and the OHS rep. on the BCNU Thompson North Okanagan region executive.

A traumatic incident in 2014 while short-staffed left Takats with acute stress disorder. A co-worker had collapsed on job and the main doors to the facility would not open, trapping the patient inside the building while an ambulance waited outside. The experience galvanized Takats to take an active role in health and safety issues, and she enjoys educating coworkers about their OHS rights.

As a region executive member, Takats makes an effort to plan creative site visits that engage members. She has a coffee cart with treats and prizes for members who can provide correct answers to questions about their JOHS committee

“I do things like that because

WHAT IS A JOHS COMMITTEE?

A Joint Occupational Health and Safety (JOHS) committee consists of worker and employer reps working together to create and promote safe and healthy workplaces.

JOHS committees meet at least monthly. The number of worker reps on each committee must be equal to or greater than the number of employer reps.

WHY ARE JOHS COMMITTEES IMPORTANT?

JOHS committees are a cornerstone for effective health and safety programs, providing a forum for collaboration, consultation, and participation at the workplace.

JOHS committees guarantee you the right to participate in health and safety issues at your worksite. It’s through these committees that you and your co-workers can offer frontline solutions to make our workplaces safer and healthier.

HOW IS BCNU INVOLVED?

To be effective, JOHS committee members need education and training on a wide range of issues. BCNU’s OHS department offers a helpful one-day course for JOHS committee members, and assists them with research and problem-solving.

For further information about JOHS committees, such as functions, investigations, inspections, 21-day recommendation letters and education, please contact healthandsafety@bcnu.org.

HEALTH & SAFETY

I realize there is a huge knowledge gap when it comes to OHS, and more members should appreciate how powerful their JOHS committee is – if they engage in the process.”

Takats brought her attention to OHS details when her facility renovated its fire panel in 2015.

“Whenever there was an alarm, the renovated panel didn’t indicate the location of the alarm in the hospital,” she recalls. “The entire hospital was on the same alarm system, and this concerned me greatly. I emailed managers and maintenance and they kept telling me there was no problem.”

Takats soon attended her first monthly JOHS committee meeting and made a presentation to employers to demonstrate the difficulties nurses were facing. A recommendation soon followed and the panel was redesigned with accurate labels.

Raj Johal is a steward, JOHS committee rep. and the most recent addition to the BCNU Shaughnessy Heights region executive, where she was appointed OHS rep.

Johal has been nursing for over 25 years, the majority of it at BC Women’s Hospital obstetrical unit, providing care for new mothers struggling with substance use and managing infant withdrawal. It’s specialized work that comes with its own unique challenges and rewards.

She says safety condition have become more challenging over the years, first because of a unit expansion 15 years ago that’s now made it more difficult for staff to communicate and check in with each other, and more recently because of the homeless crisis.

“Before, during the pregnancy, we would stabilize women, send them home, and then they would come back and have a baby. Now, once they get admitted, they end up staying on our

unit for the entire pregnancy, and then even afterwards,” she reports.

Johal and her coworkers have faced several serious incidents over the years. Johal once found an axe under a patient’s bed, an experience that she says galvanized her to become more active in her union. Another time, the partner of one mother began threatening staff with a sword. The care team had to barricade themselves in the nursing station until police arrived.

Johal’s advocacy and leadership has resulted in significant improvement to safety and working conditions in her program. One recent incident involved a patient who smoked a substance in one of the unit’s toilets, creating a plume that made Johal and the other nurses exposed to it too ill to work.

Johal first reported the incident to the Provincial Workplace Health Contact Center, but it was not until she called WorkSafeBC to create a permanent record of her exposure that she and the other nurses discovered their worksite had no external exposure plan.

WorkSafeBC then issued compliance orders, and the experience led Johal to join her worksite JOSH committee to be in a position to better oversee and monitor her employer’s safety protocols.

“Now, we’ve got special gloves we don when we go into the room of a patient who uses substances, and the external exposure plan is in a binder sitting at the desk,” she reports. “When something happens, we can pull it out and see what needs to be done.”

Tracia Batson-Dottin works as the infection control practitioner at Forensic Psychiatric Hospital (FPH) in Colony Farm, Coquitlam. In addition to being a JOSH committee member, she is a steward and serves as the mental health rep. on BCNU’s Simon Fraser region executive committee. She is also chair of the Mosaic of Colour caucus,

one of the four equity seeking groups within BCNU.

As a JOHS committee worker rep., Batson-Dottin plays an instrumental role in advancing anti-racism work. Approximately, three years ago, FPH established its Diversity and Inclusion committee on the recommendation of the JOHS committee.

The recommendation was made following the employer’s Guarding Minds survey, which found that the staff’s trust in the organization was lacking. The committee agreed that there needed to be immediate attention to how discrimination, systemic racism, harassment and bullying within the organization was managed and addressed.

The main focus of the Diversity and Inclusion committee, which BatsonDottin co-chairs as the employee rep., is to educate all staff in cultural sensitivity with the hope of providing a culturally safe working environment. The committee has organized numerous educational events and initiatives to foster cultural safety and celebrate diversity within the hospital, and has won a grant from the Provincial Health Services Authority for this initiative.

organized celebrations for

“We’ve

“I was motivated to work on the JOHS committee because it can make concrete changes that people can see.”

Forensic Psychiatric Hospital JOHS committee

worker rep. Tracia Batson-Dottin

Black History Month, Chinese New Year and various events surrounding National Indigenous Peoples Day,” says Batson-Dottin. “We’ve also organized Diwali and Pride celebrations at the hospital, and the activities involved both for staff and patients.

“The Diversity and Inclusion committee reports to the FPH JOSH committee to provide updates on the work being done,” she explains. “We focus on education because this is what’s needed to change behaviors and the way we interact with each other.”

She adds that FPH leadership has embraced the Diversity and Inclusion committee’s work and has diligently supported its efforts to provide a culturally safe working environment for staff and patients.

Batson-Dottin’s focus on psychological health and safety comes from the recognition that workers of colour and marginalized workers face a higher risk of psychological harm due experiences of personal and systemic racism, discrimination and other forms of exclusion.

She says it’s now time for the employer to conduct another staff survey to evaluate the progress of the measures currently in place, and re-assess the psychological safety levels within the hospital.

“We need a re-evaluation to see how far we’ve come, and what else we need to put in place to address the issues identified in the first survey,” she states, “because these are some serious issues, especially when we consider the staff’s lack of trust in the employer.”

Batson-Dottin reports that the FPH Diversity and Inclusion committee is currently reviewing the employer’s respectful workplace policy in the hope of making recommendations in the areas of accountability, time specific process, and the use of joint investi-

gations similar to those used by the employer and union following violent physical incidents.

She also says the employer’s existing respectful workplace policy is inadequate and, and many members have said it isn’t working.

In response, a JOHS sub-committee led by Batson-Dottin, with the support BCNU OHS department staff, has now drafted a site-specific anti-racism procedure which is currently being reviewed by all interested parties and awaiting approval.

Batson-Dottin wants all members to know that verbal violence and abuse is not part of their job. “Report it every time you encounter it,” she says. “Take care of your mental health because as nurses we always think of others first but we need to start putting ourselves first sometimes.”

Consistently raising health and safety concerns with managers and, importantly, reporting those concerns to a union rep or the Provincial Workplace Health Contact Center is critical for establishing a record. These important, initial steps that individual workers can take will better support a JOHS committees’ efforts to monitor and address long-term safety issues at their worksites.

However, all of the JOHS committee reps interviewed agree that the underreporting of health and safety hazards and incidents is an ongoing challenge. Takats argues that more education is needed to develop a culture of safety where the very notion of health and safety is better understood, and where the risk of mental injury is given the same weight as physical harm by workers themselves.

She says developing a practice where a worker always reports to the

Provincial Workplace Health Contact Center when they have an injury, whether psychological or physical, and understanding the definition of violence are two of the most important ways nurses can change their worksite’s safety culture. And she’s committed to making this happen.

“I talk to so many people at my site who don’t understand Section 4.2.7 of the OHS Regulation, which defines violence, and what violence is in the eyes of WorkSafeBC,” Takats reports. “I know that section off by heart, and I say it so many times. I think I say it in my sleep,” she laughs. “It’s not just physical interaction. It’s verbal aggression with a physical threat that you believe a patient intends to carry out. That is violence, and it needs to be reported.”

Takats confesses that, earlier in her career, her conventional understanding of violence led her, like so many nurses, to accept the verbal violence she endured, and to ignore her normal autonomic response to this kind of trauma.

“I became numb over the years before realizing that ‘hey, this is not cool,’” she remarks, and suggests that nurses still have a long way to go when it comes to consistently reporting workplace incidents.

“And soon as an incident happens, you take yourself off the floor and call the Provincial Workplace Health Contact Center – for your own protection. It’s so important.”

Kitimat’s Connie Kearley works

SAFETY DEMANDS EQUITY Forensic Psychiatric Hospital steward Tracia BatsonDottin is using provincial health regulations to advance anti-racism efforts at her worksite.

Q&A

PROMOTING A CULTURE OF SAFETY SANDRA RAMOS ON THE ROLE OF A JOHS COMMITTEE REP

TO BE EFFECTIVE, JOINT OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEE

reps need education and training on a wide range of issues. BCNU’s OHS department offers members courses on topics like research and problem-solving, and hazards, inspections and investigations.

Sandra Ramos is one of those members. She works at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) and served as the elected BCNU Central Vancouver region OHS rep before beginning her new role as a full-time steward at the busiest hospital in the province. Ramos brings extensive experience to her role as a VGH JOHS committee worker rep.

We sat down with Ramos to find out about her own experience and hear her thoughts on the elements she believes are important for a well-functioning and effective JOHS committee.

UPDATE What makes for an effective Joint Occupational Health and Safety committee?

RAMOS An effective and well-functioning JOHS committee must have the full and neutral support of the employer’s safety department. This includes both health and safety advisers and the managers and directors. The committee’s culture has to be truly rooted in safety, and not fear-based. That means the employer’s safety representatives must do more than simply ensuring the employer is complying with provincial OHS regulations. That’s the bare minimum. Ideally, they should be engaged with worker reps in promoting a culture of safety.

UPDATE What would that culture look like?

RAMOS Well, the committee would be focused on prevention over damage

control and putting out fires. Recommendations to improve safety would be organized and prioritized with the valuable input of worker reps. It’s also about recognizing that the concept “joint” means the committee has no hierarchy, and a true desire for a safer workplace is always the driving and unifying focus of the committee. It goes without saying that respectful communication and acknowledgement of all the representatives’ (worker and employer) perspectives and experiences are equally valuable.

UPDATE That’s the ideal. What’s the reality of a JOHS committee worker rep in practice?

RAMOS The work can be challenging, to say the least. You have to be comfortable speaking truths. I can’t help but do that! The passion and deep desire to make the path easier for my fellow workers

is what drives me. No change or empowerment can come if workers stay silent. I think of the famous dictum, “be the change you wish to see in the world.”

It’s always important to stress that this work is actually independent of any employer policies and procedures, or negotiated agreements between the union and the employer –and that’s exciting. OHS regulations are provincial legislation. I love reminding the employer “you don’t get to say ‘no’ to this – it’s the law!” That can be a difficult reality for employers to acknowledge. But if they do, it means that one day we will have a health-care system that doesn’t just “tick boxes” off to ensure compliance, but that truly cares for its caregivers. That’s why my first point is so important. This work is about human beings with

actual lived experiences. In health care, nurses are charged with caring for the most ill and vulnerable in our communities. There needs to be a cultural shift that supports actions over words, promises and fancily worded values.

UPDATE How has that work being going so far?

RAMOS It’s important for health and safety advocates to take a long view when it comes to effecting change, and to set realistic, attainable goals. Otherwise, JOHS committee worker reps might become frustrated or disillusioned. As my mentors have taught me, the journey toward safer worksites is a marathon, not a sprint. That’s why celebrating successes along the way is so important for sustaining our engagement with the work.

UPDATE Are there specific best practices that JOHS committees should follow to help secure those successes?

RAMOS A truly effective committee has more than enough reps who are willing and eager to engage in the work. Whether or not this happens is a reflection of a workplace’s culture. Workers will be drawn to the work if they are welcomed and trained in a psychologically safe and supportive environment. It goes without saying that worker reps should never be “voluntold” or mandated by the employer to participate on their JOHS committee. The desire to

participate should be driven by an individual’s personal desire and experiences.

It is important for JOHS committee bulletin boards to be up to date and located in highly visible area and with all required information on who your local reps are, how to report properly and how to get involved. The board should also have accurate and committee-adopted minutes. They reflect the important work of the committee, demonstrate accountability, and help workers understand the far-reaching impact the committee can have at their worksite and in their working lives.

Committee efficiency and effectiveness surveys should be conducted annually and completed in a timely and intentional manner before the end of the year. The committee-mem-

ber completion rate should be as close to 100 percent as possible. Anything less than that really should be addressed and explored. There should be full transparency, with survey results reflected in posted meeting minutes that indicate what the committee has learned and how it plans to improve as needed.

UPDATE What kinds of issues can members bring to their JOHS committee?

RAMOS Any issue of concern, including potential hazards or actual incidents that have caused harm, whether physical or psychological. In the last decade there’s been a growing focus on psychological injury. As a psychiatric nurse of 17 years, this warms my heart. Words can’t express how important this is to me and this profession.

We live in a high paced, high-demand and

high-workload society. We must care for our caregivers and this starts by acknowledging and re-humanizing the incredibly valuable work nurses do. In this time of nurse shortages, high retirement rates and high overtime, with far more jobs than there are nurses, we need to wake up to the fact that we will continue to lose nurses if we don’t address psychological injury. Burnout is a component of this. And JOHS committees are where we can effectively address it.

I’ve worked in many worksites and care settings in my career and I’m here today immersed in this work because of my personal journey. I was almost a statistic – one of those of nurses who walked away from their profession mid-career. Thank goodness for my BCNU steward and OHS staff mentors who’ve worked alongside me, inspired me and taught me how to live my values. They’ve paved the way and showed me how to be the change I want to see in this world.

An effective JOHS committee understands and receives ongoing education on psychological injury, how to prevent it, and how to advocate for psychological safety just as we do for physical safety.

UPDATE What kinds of supports do JOHS committee worker reps receive from their union?

RAMOS I have had the fortunate opportunity to be mentored by some the best BCNU OHS advocates out there! The JOHS committee education I‘ve received from staff has been invaluable to my work as a steward.

BCNU’s OHS and education departments have done a great job of teaching members about the fundamental principles of workplace health and safety. The union has also stepped up its education offerings by focusing on areas like role modelling and effective worker advocacy, which is the true nature of this work.

The timing of the recent update of the BCNU OHS courses this year could not have been better given the stressed-out state of the nursing profession and upcoming Nurses’ Bargaining Association negotiations. Workplace safety must always be our central focus. It’s critical for addressing and improving our working conditions and promoting the retention and recruitment of nurses in this noble profession.

When you take any of these courses and meet the amazing people working for us, you really do start to feel like this is your union and what you say and do does matter. And having the support of a knowledgeable, professional and caring staff team helps JOHS committee reps navigate the up and down nature of this work. •

HEALTH & SAFETY

IN

JOINT EFFORT continued from page 31

part-time in home care nursing and is a casual in the ER at Kitimat General Hospital, where she began working in 2013. She is also a steward and serves as the mental health rep on BCNU’s North West region executive committee.

Kearley believes many nurses don’t report verbal violence because they perceive the incidents as minor, and not warranting their employer’s attention. She wants her colleagues to ask themselves how many times an incident needs to happen before they don’t want to come in to work the next day.

workers on the importance of using the correct incident reporting system.

All workplace incidents and nearmisses need to be reported to the Provincial Workplace Health Contact Center. However, Anderson says her JOHS committee discovered that many workers were filling out PSLS (Patient Safety Learning System) reports after serious near misses when they should have been calling the contact centre.

“The PSLS is for the benefit of patients. The information goes to managers and they are not required to share it,” explains Anderson. “That’s why it’s important to call the Workplace Health Contact Center, as it must share the reports it receives with the JOHS committee.”

physical or psychological, and you’re effecting change within your facility and organization,” she says, when asked why other members should consider joining their worksite JOHS committee. “If we want to change how things are done presently, then we need to come forward, and we need to be able to put in the work, not only for us, but for the generations that are following behind us. We need to do this for them. As Roger Nash Baldwin said, ‘Silence never won rights. They are not handed down from above; they are forced by pressures from below.’”

Leah Takats

“At what point does the mental health impact of this repeated behavior or experience have you wanting to change jobs or take up a different line of work?” she asks. “At what point is it going to result in a sick call because you’re not feeling mentally capable of dealing with it again?”

Proper reporting, she says, lets her track the frequency and type of violent incidents. “Then I can start looking for a trigger, and ask, ‘what is happening here? What has changed and what do we need to implement to prevent this from happening?’”

Anderson has worked with her worksite JOHS committee to help educate Penticton Regional Hospital

All of the members interviewed say they couldn’t have achieved what they have without the support of BCNU’s OHS department, which offers a helpful one-day course for JOHS committee members and assists them with research and problem-solving. It also offers a twoday advanced course on how to identify hazards, conduct inspections and investigations, and write recommendations.

Batson-Dottin notes that BCNU health and safety officers are always available to assist and advise JOHS committee reps. “You learn a lot about your safety, you help advocate for your colleagues’ safety, whether it be

Kearley agrees. “Get involved, use your voice, ask questions, and take the education that’s offered. And when you’re comfortable and get the opportunity, take a JOHS committee worker co-chair roll if you can,” she says, reminding members that they are never alone. “Lean on your BCNU regional OHS rep and your BCNU health and safety officer on BCNU staff. They have been instrumental in supporting me in my work.”

Herrera says supporting JOHS committees is one of the union’s highest priorities. “We want to make sure we have BCNU representation on all of the JOHS committees at worksites where our members are working – because there are some gaps,” she says. “It’s about doing that analysis and determining where we can provide the training and mentorship to make sure JOHS committees are staffed with BCNU members and also doing an effective job.” •

Are you feeling inspired by what you’ve read? Curious about how you could help make your workplace healthier and safer? Talk to your worksite steward or BCNU regional council member, and start your OHS journey today.

For further information about Joint Occupational Health and Safety (JOHS) committees such as functions, investigations, inspections, 21-day recommendation letters, and education, please contact healthandsafety@bcnu.org

“More members should appreciate how powerful their JOHS committee is.”

Have you reported?

It’s important to report every near miss, incident, injury, and exposure.

Reporting ensures an event is documented and investigated.

And just because you can’t see an injury, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

The impact can be physical, psychological or both.

Clip this card onto your lanyard. Next time you’ll know what to do. YOUR

MAKE HEALTH CARE BETTER NBA BA R G A INI NG

MAKING HEALTH CARE BETTER

Provincial strategy conference sets stage for Nurses’ Bargaining Association contract negotiations

ember engagement will always be one of BCNU’s highest priorities. And nowhere is this better reflected than in the preparations for provincial bargaining. The recent BCNU Provincial Bargaining Conference held Oct. 4 to 5 in Vancouver was the culmination of a membership-wide engagement process that began more

than a year earlier. The current Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) provincial collective agreement is a three-year contract that expired March 31. Since that date, the union has been wasting no time engaging with members to educate them about the job action that could be required to achieve success at the bargaining table.

BACKGROUND TO BARGAINING

BETTER FOR NURSES BETTER FOR PATIENTS

However, it’s important to effectively prepare the groundwork for collective bargaining, and BCNU is committed to involving the entire membership in the bargaining process well in advance of actual contract negotiations. That means listening to members’ concerns and identifying their priorities to help guide the union’s discussions with health authorities and government on ways to improve quality of work life and nursing practice conditions.

To that end, surveys of members covered by the NBA were conducted in the summer of 2021 and again this fall asking nurses to identify the issues that are important to them. These surveys were complemented by a series of regional bargaining conferences that began in October 2021 and which carried through to March of this year. Senior BCNU elected leaders and staff visited the union’s member regions to hear firsthand from hundreds of nurses about the challenges they are facing today and their hopes for future contract talks.

The over 400 delegates attending this October’s Provincial Bargaining Conference were elected at their regional bargaining conferences. This event was the first in-person conference hosted by BCNU since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and delegates were excited to now come together to evaluate bargaining survey results, elect

the members to the BCNU provincial bargaining and job action committees, and provide the union’s leadership with a mandate to bargain in the year ahead.

KICKING IT OFF

Following a greeting from Indigenous Elder Roberta Price of the Coast Salish Snuneymuxw and Cowichan nations, BCNU President Aman Grewal welcomed delegates and began by acknowledging the horrendous working conditions members now face, and reminding them of the historic job action that previous generations of nurses undertook when faced with such adversity.

“Imagine what would happen if we were to go out on strike,” Grewal asked the delegates. “It would put immense pressure on the government. I say we do have the upper hand at the moment and need to take back that power to achieve what our members deserve.”

This bargaining conference was the first with BCNU Interim CEO Jim Gould at the helm as the union’s lead negotiator. Although not an unfamiliar face – as a lawyer, Gould’s firm has provided legal counsel to BCNU for over 16 years – he began day one by introducing himself to the assembled group and talking about his background in healthcare bargaining.

“I am a strategist and a consummate negotiator,” Gould said. “I am values-driven. Honesty, integrity, loyalty,

transparency, teamwork and hard work are all very important to me,” he told delegates. “I possess a strong moral compass and I intend to be transparent with the membership as we move through bargaining.”

Gould also told attendees that the conference is a time for union staff to listen to the membership through the input of the assembled delegates. “You are here to advance the interests of the nurses of this province,” he said. “And we are all here to listen to each other so that you can provide guidance to your bargaining team. This is your conference, and it is important that you share your thoughts so our bargaining team can properly hear and be guided moving forward.”

REVIEWING THE BARGAINING PROCESS

The primary purpose of any provincial bargaining conference is to be a venue for delegates to share their experiences through open and honest conversation about how the union can achieve a provincial collective agreement that better serves members and meets their needs. And this conference was no different.

Delegates were given opportunities to participate in live polling sessions where they were asked to rank their most important priorities and issues and took to the microphone during open forums where they were encouraged to ask questions of union leaders and senior staff.

The event also saw delegates share their frustrations with previous rounds of bargaining and spoke of the difficulties they’ve encountered in getting health employers to implement the terms of the 2019-22 NBA contract.

Gould listened intently to the many delegates who spoke up at the mic. He reiterated his intention of taking their bargaining priorities to heart when negotiations begin, acknowledged the need to tackle the harsh working conditions nurses face and pledged to bargain an equitable collective agreement

Our solidarity will help us make health care better for nurses and patients.”

BCNU President Aman Grewal

READY FOR BUSINESS BCNU President Aman Grewal welcomes over 450 members to the union’s first in-person provincial event in almost three years.

THE BARGAINING PROCESS IN BRIEF

JUNE-JULY 2021 Mustel Group Market Research conducts random sample poll of the BCNU membership. The survey asks a series of questions about conditions of employment and is designed to find out what is good about current conditions and what could be improved upon.

FALL & WINTER OF 2021/2022

BCNU holds regional bargaining conferences across all 16 provincial regions. Information regarding results of the bargaining survey is shared at these meetings and members provide further input and context into priorities. Delegates are elected to attend the provincial bargaining conference.

FEBRUARY 2022 Inaugural Human Rights and Equity Bargaining Conference brings equity caucus members together to share their groups’ specific concerns and proposed solutions for issues that may be placed on the provincial bargaining table.

MAY-JUNE 2022 Outreach events and meetings are held in regions throughout the province where members share their bargaining priorities with senior BCNU leaders.

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022

A general membership survey is conducted to help BCNU identify critical issues and bargaining priorities that matter to members.

OCTOBER 2022 Provincial Bargaining Conference is held in Vancouver, where information from bargaining surveys and the regional bargaining conferences are consolidated and categorized into themes and presented to delegates. An overview of the bargaining strategy is shared, and delegates elect BCNU’s representatives to the NBA Bargaining and Provincial Job Action committees.

that delivers. “We need to make the government understand we are going to do whatever it takes to get our nurses a great contract,” he said.

Gould also made a commitment to building trust and remaining transparent during bargaining and emphasized the importance of listening to the membership throughout negotiations.

“There needs to be a level of trust in any relationship,” he told delegates. “I intend to be trustworthy and transparent with the membership as we move together through the bargaining process.”

Day one of the conference also saw Senior Director of Negotiations and Labour Relations Donna Bouzan and Director of Legal and Labour Relations Deborah Charrois join Gould at the podium to offer their insights into public sector bargaining.

Bouzan, who has been involved in the last four rounds of NBA bargaining, provided delegates with an overview of the bargaining process and players involved. She explained the relationships between the different unions in the NBA and the dynamics between the individual employers in the Health Employers’ Association of BC and these players’ relationship with the provincial government.

Bouzan also told the group what it’s like to be part of a bargaining committee and shared that it’s a lengthy but

ultimately worthy experience. “You have to represent everyone’s interests and communication is key,” she stressed. “It’s a challenge representing over 48,000 members who are all looking for a good deal, so we need to communicate with one another.”

Charrois told members that success at the bargaining table is ultimately up to them. “It is through collective bargaining that unions achieve rights and benefits, but it is a determined and unified membership willing to engage in job action that is the most significant factor in achieving gains in bargaining,” she said.

Addressing the members who put their names forward to be part of the bargaining committee, Gould acknowledged the hard work coming for those who are elected. “Your patience and resilience will be tested, but teamwork will be the thing that pushes us forward,” he said. “Communications between the bargaining committee and the members is what makes things work and the task is to come back to the membership with a good contract that anyone would be proud to ratify.”

ESTABLISHING PRIORITIES

BCNU senior health policy analyst Tarya Morel led conference delegates through a review of the results of a just-released membership-wide bargaining survey that, to date, had received 10,000 responses. According to the survey, the most important demands that members felt the union should propose in the next round of bargaining were increased wages, improved staffing levels, retention bonuses and wage premiums (see Vital Signs on page 45 for survey details).

Delegates then took these results into account before participating in a real-time polling exercise led by Gould, where attendees used their smartphones to indicate their top bargaining priorities for the year ahead.

Polling questions asked delegates to

LISTENING LEADER BCNU Interim CEO Jim Gould shares his vision for successful contract negotiations and pledges openness and transparency throughout the bargaining process.

rate the psychological safety of their workplaces, how often they worked short and whether their employer offers paid education on anti-Indigenous racism. They were also asked to rank some of the demands commonly identified in member bargaining surveys, such as a return to the 36-hour work week, improved wage increases and mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios.

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS

On Wednesday afternoon, delegates took the energy and camaraderie of the previous day to the streets of downtown Vancouver to raise public awareness about the mounting pressure on the health-care system and the dire impact it’s having on patient care.

Upwards of 500 nurses marched through the city to occupy the intersection of Burrard and Georgia streets. Dressed in their scrubs, they waved signs, flags and banners calling for the government to make health care better.

Despite the traffic disruption, pedestrians cheered, and car horns honked in support. At times, bystanders clapped, took photos and videos, and joined in with the group. The event garnered significant attention on social media and in the news.

Many nurses from nearby worksites, including St. Paul’s and Vancouver General hospitals, also came out on their lunch breaks to add their voices to the cause.

“We can’t stay quiet when it comes to this health-care crisis,” Grewal told reporters covering the event, and said that nurses are morally distressed with the current state of health care in the province. “The system is under extraordinary pressure, and it is patients, nurses and health-care workers who are paying the price.”

From ER closures to long waitlists, excessive workloads and understaffed long-term care facilities, Grewal said nurses want to see the government do more to make health care better.

BCNU Vice President Adriane Gear also led the group in a number of spirited chants, and said the event sent a loud message to government that nurses have had enough and want some action on improving patient care in BC.

MINING BARGAINING ISSUES

Delegates returned from the march and continued to participate in exercises that identified nurses’ top bargaining priorities.

Gould reminded members that the union has been listening and gathering member feedback for months leading up to the bargaining conference. “We have been hearing from members via surveys, emails, member engagement events, and at regional bargaining conferences,” he said. “We are listening. Your council is committed and willing to do things differently this time around.”

Through a series of virtual polls, delegates ranked their bargaining issues in priority order, and indicated their willingness to strike to achieve these contract improvements. The top priorities identified were wages and premiums, benefits, flexibility and leaves, patient/ staff ratios and workplace safety.

Gould said the polling and open feedback delegates provided at the microphone were crucial to providing the direction needed to focus the union’s

continued on page 44

OPEN FORUM Conference delegates spent several hours at the microphone to ask questions of union leaders, talk about bargaining priorities and share their experiences with the current provincial collective agreement.

We are going to do whatever it takes to get our nurses a great contract.”

BCNU Interim CEO Jim Gould

BARGAINING BETTER

BCNU IS COMMITTED TO advancing equity principles and practices within the union, and the work to make the organization more inclusive is ongoing. One of the ways it’s doing this is to make the BCNU human rights and equity committee a central part of the bargaining process. That began in February 2022 with the inaugural Human Rights and Equity Bargaining Conference, which brought equity caucus members together to share their groups’ specific concerns and proposed solutions for issues that may be placed on the provincial bargaining table – and it continued with the equity caucuses full participation at this October’s provincial conference.

BCNU Interim CEO Gould opened the two-day event by emphasizing the important link between solidarity and equity, and citing feminist scholar Jodi Dean, he made a distinction between conventional solidarity, founded on a “shared adherence to common beliefs or goals which unite people in membership” and reflective solidarity where a person “is considered a member despite, indeed because of her difference.”

He said this reflective solidarity is the kind that must inform BCNU’s collective endeavor as a union, as it is one that is open to differences of thought, ideas and ways of being.

“The provincial collective agreement is an equity-seeking document. Its language evolves over time – in response to the needs and requirements of the members who ratify it, and then uphold and defend the rights it confers,” he stated. “As our union becomes ever

more diverse – our commitment to a reflective solidarity requires that we act accordingly: giving voice to those whose voices have been excluded and considering how a collective agreement can address the harms wrought by colonization, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and racism.”

BCNU President Aman Grewal then welcomed the chairs of each of the union’s equity seeking caucuses and groups to the podium to highlight the concerns of their members, and to remind the larger group that equity issues are central, not peripheral, to the bargaining process.

Indigenous Leadership Circle chair and BCNU North West region steward Catherine Tanski began by acknowledging that opening day – Oct. 4 – was a National Day of Awareness for murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit peoples, and she hung a symbolic red dress from the podium for all to view for the remainder of the conference.

Tanski reminded delegates about the systemic racism Indigenous people continue to face daily. “In many ways, racism is not just one of the social determinants — it’s the underlying structural determinant by which all other social determinants are upheld,” she stated.

Tanski noted that Indigenous people comprise less than five percent of the Canadian population, yet make up over half of all those incarcerated, over half of all children apprehended to foster care and well over half of the inquiries into missing and murdered women, girls and two-spirit people. They are also overrepresented in statistics for

drug toxicity deaths in BC – with death rates among First Nations women being the highest.

“There’s no denying that Canada’s colonial past has created a health-care crisis for Indigenous peoples — and we are all working right in the belly of it,” Tanski remarked. “Nurses play a critical role in being the first and sometimes only point of contact for Indigenous peoples, especially in remote and isolated communities, and so we need to break open these hard conversations about racism more often.”

Tanski said racism is a public health crisis that cannot be ignored any longer. “Nurses are leaving the profession in droves and not looking back because they feel burnt out, dissatisfied, fed up and unappreciated by their employer, and when Indigenous nurses leave positions that surround Indigenous communities, this not only creates staffing problems, but it affects the health and well-being of the community that’s left behind.”

To address the crisis, Tanski noted the federal government recently negotiated increases to existing recruitment and retention allowances for hundreds of Indigenous health nurses who work in remote areas across Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Manitoba.

We all must work together to challenge these barriers.”

LGBTQ caucus provincial chair Jessy Dame

BCNU members are building an equity mandate into NBA contract negotiations

“We want to see something similar on the table to help attract and keep Indigenous nurses and allies who can and will commit to improving health outcomes for their peoples,” she said.

BCNU LGBTQ caucus provincial chair and Richmond-Vancouver region member Jessy Dame then took to the podium to welcome delegates and provide highlights from a provincial survey the caucus conducted with the support of Trans Focus consulting. It’s purpose was to better understand the experiences of Two-Spirit, Trans and gender diverse (2STGD) BCNU members, and the challenges that prevent or complicate these members’ full participation on the job and within their union.

“From this survey we have been able to put forward 12 evidence-based recommendations for change in culture, systems, procedures and spaces for greater support and inclusion,” said Dame, who reported that T2SGD people experience two-to three-times higher rates of negative experiences at work and are more likely to leave the nursing profession.

Providing broader education on gender diversity, introducing and improving system changes such as form fields for pronouns and gender, and adding a gender-based lens to violence prevention strategies were some of the recommendations Dame noted.

“We know that our nurses are being stigmatized and harmed. We now have living proof,” Dame said of the survey. “We need to do better together. Take a moment to think about your daily life and how we can work together to challenge the current state of ‘normal’ that pits society against the queer community,” he said, and called on the assembly to become meaningful allies.

“There is no such thing as ‘normal’ but we are all perfect,” remarked Dame.

“This is your call to action. It is not just the caucuses’ role to do the work. You are aware of the forced limitations of

queer folks in current society, and we all must work together to challenge these barriers.”

Delegates then heard from Mosaic of Colour caucus chair and Simon-Fraser region mental health rep Tracia Batson-Dottin, who said BCNU’s commitment to diversity and inclusion means allyship is required now more than ever.

A CALL FOR SOLIDARITY Provincial chairs of the four BCNU equity seeking caucuses and two non-equity seeking groups address delegates on day one of the provincial bargaining conference. Clockwise from top left: LGBTQ caucus chair Jessy Dame, Indigenous Leadership Circle chair Catherine Tanski, Young Nurses Network chair Melissa Vannerus, Men in Nursing chair Matthew LeGresley, Mosaic of Colour caucus chair Tracia Batson-Dottin and Workers with Disability caucus chair Kelly Woywitka.

She shared the areas of concern her caucus has identified ahead of NBA bargaining. These include the development of an effective respectful workplace policy that holds offenders to account, mandatory courses on cultural sensitivity, a zero-tolerance policy on racism and discrimination, and data collection to track occurrences of discrimination, harassment, and bullying.

Batson-Dottin also said unions must continue to advocate for internationally educated nurses (IENs), who are a valuable source of knowledge that advances Canada’s health-care system. “IENs bring diversity to nursing teams, which is necessary for inclusive hospital service delivery,” she argued. “We salute you and acknowledge your significant contribution, hard work, sacrifice and dedication,” she told the IENs in attendance.

Batson-Dottin called on all nurses of colour to join the Mosaic of Colour caucus and encouraged all the assembled delegates to become an ally.

Workers with Disability caucus chair and Pacific Rim region steward liaison Kelly Woywitka then addressed conference delegates. She began with an appeal for empathy for her caucus members or any nurse who is being

accommodated for a disability and reminded delegates that everyone is one incident away from being one of those nurses.

“Be an ally, when someone needs an accommodation, and help us keep our jobs. Have an open mind, have an open heart,” she said.

Woywitka reported that her caucus wants to the see the bargaining of an improved respectful workplace policy, increased mental health benefits, better accommodation language, more Enhanced Disability Management Program reps and cultural sensitivity training.

In her 10 years as caucus chair, Woywitka remarked that this was the first time she and other human rights and equity caucus chairs had been invited to speak at a provincial bargaining conference, and that she was grateful for the opportunity to raise her members’ issues.

Men in Nursing provincial chair and North West region lobby coordinator Matthew LeGresley followed Woywitka by echoing the previous speakers’ calls for greater equity, diversity and inclusion, and said that all members need to see themselves in their negotiated collective agreement.

COMPARING CONTRACTS

AS BCNU MEMBERS PREPARE THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE next round of bargaining, it is important to examine the main factors that will affect our negotiations.

Those issues include the settlements of other BC public sector workers, particularly health-sector unions; the shape of BC’s economy and labour market; the political situation in BC; and the contracts of other Canadian nurses.

Recent research compiled by the Canadian Federation of Nurses

Unions allows nurses in each province to see where they stand in relation to their counterparts in the rest of the country.

BCNU’s salary provisions are in line with those of unions in other provinces, but health employers need to be aware that BC nurses’ salaries must be brought into line with those in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta in order to keep this province competitive. The cost of living in BC is also a critical factor when comparing salaries here with those in the rest of the country.

Salary for Head Nurse (Level 5)

How does BCNU’s current provincial collective agreement compare with the contracts of other Canadian nurses?

BETTER

RATES EFFECTIVE AS OF NOVEMBER 1, 2021

BARGAINING BETTER

continued from page 41

He said all members would benefit from a bargaining proposal that sees every worker, regardless of family structure, entitled to an equitable parental leave allowance.

“Greater gender equity would help retain nurses and boost member engagement in the union,” he argued. “Members would see themselves in the collective agreement and know they belong with other nurses.”

LeGresley said it’s important for everyone to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in contract negotiations. “When nurses feel we belong together, we are strong together,” he remarked.

Young Nurses Network provincial chair and Simon Fraser region OHS rep Melissa Vannerus then spoke to the many concerns facing nurses under 35 – a group that made up almost half of the delegates in attendance.

She reminded members that 42

percent of nurses between the ages of 20 and 29 are considering leaving the profession, and said young nurses want to see retention bonuses, mentorship premiums that would incentivize experiences nurses to support new hires, and a more equitable wage grid that does not require nine years of employment to reach the top step. •

Visit the BCNU website for more information on the human rights and equity caucuses.

MAKING HEALTH CARE

bargaining efforts. “This is fantastic,” he said. “You’ve provided us with very clear direction on the top priorities and issues. There will be a lot of work to come. I’m ready for it. Are you?”

BARGAINING COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

Day two of the conference saw the election of the provincial bargaining committee (PBC). Seven successful candidates were chosen by secret ballot, each representing a specific health-care sector. Delegates elected fellow members Gerri Miller (community), Rise Ford (long-term care), Jereme Bennet (community), Kath-Ann Terrett (acute care – large: 701 members or more), Candi DeSousa (acute care – small: 200 members or fewer), Annelise Henderson (acute care – medium: 201-700 members) and Roy Hansen (acute care –large: 701 members or more).

The elected candidates will be joined by Grewal and Gould. This group, along with designated union staff coordinators and representatives of the Health Sciences Association, which has NBA members, makes up the entire PBC and will be tasked with negotiating a new collective agreement that best reflects the interests and priorities of nurses.

Members of the provincial job action committee (PJAC) were also elected. The successful candidates were Jassi Chahal (acute care), Margo Wilton (community), Shawntel Hildebrandt

(member at large), Linda Mitton (longterm care) and Lindsay Manning (member at large). This group, along with BCNU Treasurer Sharon Sponton plus BCNU executive councillors Michelle Sordal and Aida Herrera, will be responsible for developing, implementing, and coordinating local and province-wide job action strategies that will support negotiations and help achieve the union’s bargaining goals.

READY FOR ACTION

Gould shared his optimism with delegates following the march. “We’re prepared to do things differently. Your council is prepared to do things differently, and we did things differently today by shutting down one of the busiest intersections in metro Vancouver!

“You are incredible, and you should feel incredible,” he remarked. “We have power together – and you felt just a little taste of that during our march today when the public was supporting you, transport trucks were honking their horns and people had smiles on their faces.”

Gould said he was impressed with the way members conducted themselves throughout the conference and was proud of how many people took the opportunity to stand up at the mic to share their experiences and concerns.

Grewal closed the conference by thanking the almost 500 delegates in attendance for their commitment to their patients, co-workers, and all of the nurses in BC. “What an incredible two days these have been,” she said. “Your engagement and enthusiasm and hard

work, functioning together as a united front has been amazing. This is what’s called solidarity!”

Grewal recognized nurses for the vitality they displayed earlier in the day. “I don’t remember a march that has been so well received,” she said. “There was such infectious energy from you all and I’m so pleased by the enthusiasm and support from the public who cheered us on too!”

“This conference has been a great opportunity for nurses to stand up and be heard,” she told delegates. “Not only have you shared your concerns over deteriorating working conditions, but you’ve told the public what you want and set priorities for the negotiating table.”

Grewal confirmed that the NBA bargaining process will be moving forward with the election of the bargaining and provincial job action committees. “Congratulations to each of the successful candidates and thank you to everyone who was brave enough to put your name forward,” she said. “Now our hard work can get underway.”

Grewal concluded by giving thanks to the delegates who took time away from work and family commitments to attend the event and do the business of the union. “Thank you for being such inspiring activists. Our solidarity will help us make health care better for nurses and patients,” she said. “Let’s keep this energy going, we are in this together and need to keep our focus moving forward on staying engaged and being loud!” •

SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES Bargaining conference delegates elected members to the union’s provincial bargaining (PBC) and job action (PJAC) committees. PBC from left: BCNU President Aman Grewal, BCNU Interim CEO Jim Gould, Kath-Ann Terrett, Jereme Bennet, Gerri Miller, Annelise Henderson, Rise Ford, Roy Hansen and Candi DeSousa. PJAC from left: BCNU

Provincial Treasurer Sharon Sponton, Linda Mitton, BCNU Executive Councillor Michele Sordal, Jassi Chahal, BCNU Executive Councillor Aida Herrera, Shawntel Hildebrandt and Lindsay Manning. Not shown: Margo Wilton.

James Paterson Abbotsford Regional Hospital & Cancer Centre

Polly Huynh Richmond Mental Health

Sukhjit Kaur Surrey Memorial Hospital

BETTER FOR NURSES BETTER FOR PATIENTS

BCNU Convention Agenda Hyatt Regency Hotel, Vancouver November 2–4, 2022

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1

2:30 pm – 8:30 pm Convention Registration

3:30 pm – 5:15 pm New Delegate Session: Parliamentarian Education and Ombudsperson

5:15 pm – 5:30 pm Delegate WHIP Information Meeting

5:15 pm – 5:30 pm Scrutineers and Sergeant-atArms Meeting

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Dinner (Delegates on their own)

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Meet and Greet

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2

7:00 am – 8:30 am Registration Desk Open

8:30 am – 9:00 am Call to Order

9:00 am – 9:15 am Year in Review

9:15 am – 10:00 am President’s Opening Remarks

10:00 am – 10:30 am Health Break

10:30 am – 11:00 am CEO Report

11:00 am – 11:45 pm Finance Report (Treasurer)

11:45 am – 12:00 pm Questions and Answers on Reports

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Lunch (Delegates on their own)

1:30 pm – 2:00 pm Vice President Report

2:00 pm – 2:45 pm COO Report

2:45 pm – 3:30 pm Questions and Answers on Reports

3:30 pm – 4:00 pm Health Break

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Open Forum

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Resolutions Committee Meeting

The agenda is tentative and may be adjusted prior to convention.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3

9:00 am – 9:15 am Call to Order

9:15 am – 9:30 am Executive Councillor –Occupational Health Safety and Mental Health

9:30 am – 9:45 am Executive Councillor –Pensions and Seniors

9:45 am – 10:00 am Year in Review

10:00 am – 10:30 am Health Break

10:30 am – 12:00 pm Bylaws and Resolutions

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Lunch (Delegates on their own)

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm Bylaws and Resolutions

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm Health Break

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm Bylaws and Resolutions

4:30 pm – 4:45 pm Recognition of Retiring Activists

6:30 pm No-Host Bar

7:00 pm – 11:00 pm Banquet

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4

9:00 am – 9:15 am Call to Order

9:15 am – 10:15 am Bylaws and Resolutions

10:15 am – 10:45 am Health Break

10:45 am – 11:45 pm Bylaws and Resolutions

11:45 pm – 12:00 pm Rally Instructions

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Rally

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Lunch (Delegates on their own)

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Bylaws and Resolutions

3:30 pm – 4:00 pm Closing Remarks (President)

4:00 pm Adjournment

We respectfully acknowledge that this event will be held on the traditional unceded and ancestral territories of the Salish Peoples, including, the Sḵwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səlilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam) nations.

PROPOSED CONSTITUTION AND BYLAW AMENDMENTS

BYLAW AMENDMENT 1

BYLAWS ARTICLE 1 – MEMBERSHIP

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

1.12 Within thirty (30) days of notification of a declaration under Article 1.10, a Member declared no longer a Member in Good Standing may apply to the Chief Executive Officer or designate to request that the Discipline Committee establish a Hearing Board in accordance with Article 12.06 to hear the merits of Council’s declaration as if it were a Complaint by Council:

(a) The Hearing Board may, in addition to its powers and discretion set out in Article 12.07:

i. Uphold or set aside Council’s declaration; and

ii. In the event that the Member is guilty of a breach of duty, impose any penalty that it considers appropriate in the circumstances.

Insert: “iii. All decisions and determinations of the Hearing Board regarding Article 1.12 are within the Hearing Board’s sole discretion and will be final and binding”

1.12 Within thirty (30) days of notification of a declaration under Article 1.10, a Member declared no longer a Member in Good Standing may apply to the Chief Executive Officer or designate to request that the Discipline Committee establish a Hearing Board in accordance with Article 12.06 to hear the merits of Council’s declaration as if it were a Complaint by Council:

(a) The Hearing Board may, in addition to its powers and discretion set out in Article 12.07:

i. Uphold or set aside Council’s declaration; and

ii. In the event that the Member is guilty of a breach of duty, impose any penalty that it considers appropriate in the circumstances.

iii. All decisions and determinations of the Hearing Board regarding Article 1.12 are within the Hearing Board’s sole discretion and will be final and binding.

(b) Subject to Article 1.10 and this Article, the rights and procedures required under Article 12 and any applicable Policies and Procedures will apply.

Moved by: Sara Philips

Seconded by: Christine Brisebois

Costing: nil

(b) Subject to Article 1.10 and this Article, the rights and procedures required under Article 12 and any applicable Policies and Procedures will apply.

AMENDMENT 2

BYLAWS ARTICLE 1 – MEMBERSHIP

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

1.16 Provincial Executive Officers and Regional Council Members filling a temporary Staff position will take a leave of absence from their Elected Position:

Moved by: Sara Mattu, Council proposal

Seconded by: Scott Duvall

Costing: nil AMENDMENT

3

BYLAWS ARTICLE 12 –

Remove “Provincial Executive Officers and Regional Council Members” and replace with “Any Member in an Elected Position:”

1.16 Any Member in an Elected Position filling a temporary Staff position will take a leave of absence from their Elected Position:

DISCIPLINE

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

12.04 Complaints

(d) The Chief Executive Officer, or designate, will consider the merits of the Complaint, for the purpose of determining, in their sole discretion, whether it is appropriate to initiate an early alternative dispute resolution process.

(e) All decisions of the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, to initiate or not initiate the early alternative dispute resolution process will be final and binding.

(f) Where a matter is determined to be suitable for an early alternative dispute resolution process, the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, will appoint a Neutral Third Party to assist the parties in resolving the dispute.

(g) If the Neutral Third Party determines that attempts at consensual resolution have been unsuccessful, they will advise the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, and the matter will be referred to the Complaints Investigation Committee under Article 12.05.

Insert “such as mediation, mediation-arbitration, expedited arbitration, or full arbitration” after, “whether it is appropriate to initiate an early alternative dispute resolution process”

Insert a new clause (e) “The initiation of mediation-arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the Policies and Procedures”

Renumber existing clauses (e-g) to (f-h).

12.04 Complaints

(d) The Chief Executive Officer, or designate, will consider the merits of the Complaint, for the purpose of determining, in their sole discretion, whether it is appropriate to initiate an early alternative dispute resolution process such as mediation, mediationarbitration, expedited arbitration, or full arbitration.

(e) The initiation of mediation, mediation-arbitration, expedited arbitration, or full arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the Policies and Procedures.

(f) All decisions of the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, to initiate or not initiate the early alternative dispute resolution process will be final and binding.

(g) Where a matter is determined to be suitable for an early alternative dispute resolution process, the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, will appoint a Neutral Third Party to assist the parties in resolving the dispute.

PROPOSED CONSTITUTION AND BYLAW AMENDMENTS

AMENDMENT 3 (CON’T)

BYLAWS ARTICLE 12 – DISCIPLINE

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT

Strike “matter will be referred to” and insert “the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, at its sole discretion will refer the matter to”

Insert “either:

i. arbitration with the same Neutral Third Party; or

ii.

12.05 Complaints Investigation Committee and Complaints Investigation Sub-Committee:

(f) While discharging its functions under subsection (d) above, the Complaints Investigation Sub-Committee will, subject to applicable rules and procedures, determine its own process and will have the power and discretion to:

i. Convene a settlement conference and assist to negotiate a settlement between the parties;

ii. Request that a Neutral Third Party be appointed to mediate a settlement; or

iii. Require the Complainant, the Respondent, or any other Member who may have information relevant to the investigation of the Complaint:

1. To communicate with and provide information to the Committee;

2. To produce to the Committee potentially relevant documents; and

3. To attend at meetings convened by the Committee.

Delete “be appointed to mediate a settlement” and insert, “initiate mediation, mediation-arbitration, expedited arbitration, or full arbitration;”

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

(h) If the Neutral Third Party determines that attempts at consensual resolution have been unsuccessful, they will advise the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, and the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, at its sole discretion will refer the matter to either:

i. arbitration with the same Neutral Third Party; or

ii. the Complaints Investigation Committee under Article 12.05.

12.05 Complaints Investigation Committee and Complaints Investigation Sub-Committee:

(f) While discharging its functions under subsection (d) above, the Complaints Investigation Sub-Committee will, subject to applicable rules and procedures, determine its own process and will have the power and discretion to:

i. Convene a settlement conference and assist to negotiate a settlement between the parties;

ii. Request that a Neutral Third Party initiate mediation, mediation-arbitration, expedited arbitration, or full arbitration; or

iii. Require the Complainant, the Respondent, or any other Member who may have information relevant to the investigation of the Complaint:

1. To communicate with and provide information to the Committee;

2. To produce to the Committee potentially relevant documents; and

3. To attend at meetings convened by the Committee.

Moved by: Sara Mattu, Council proposal

Seconded by: Scott Duvall

Costing: nil

AMENDMENT 4

BYLAWS ARTICLE 12 – DISCIPLINE

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

No current wording.

Add new language to 12.04 Complaints:

“The Chief Executive Officer, or designate, may also consider whether the information set out in the Complaint form discloses a potential breach of duty by the Respondent(s).

If, upon considering the information set out in the Complaint form, the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, determines that the Complaint form does not disclose a breach of duty by the Respondent(s), the Complaint may be dismissed.

The Complainant(s) may appeal a decision to dismiss the Complaint, in which case the Complaint will be referred to the Complaints Investigation Committee.”

12.04 Complaints:

i. The Chief Executive Officer, or designate, may also consider whether the information set out in the Complaint form discloses a potential breach of duty by the Respondent(s).

i. If, upon considering the information set out in the Complaint form, the Chief Executive Officer, or designate, determines that the Complaint form does not disclose a breach of duty by the Respondent(s), the Complaint may be dismissed.

ii. The Complainant(s) may appeal a decision to dismiss the Complaint, in which case the Complaint will be referred to the Complaints Investigation Committee.

Note: Language above will be numbered (h) or (i) depending on the disposition of proposed bylaw amendment #3

Moved by: Sara Mattu, Council proposal

Seconded by: Scott Duvall

Costing: ni

PROPOSED CONSTITUTION AND BYLAW AMENDMENTS

AMENDMENT 5

BYLAWS ARTICLE 5.04 – NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT

5.04 In the year prior to the elections for the Provincial Executive Officers and Regional Council Members, a five (5) Member Nominations Committee will be elected by delegates at the Annual Convention:

(a) If there are only five (5) candidates, the candidates will be deemed acclaimed to the Nominations Committee. If there are more than five (5) candidates, the five (5) candidates who receive the largest number of votes will be declared elected.

(b) The term of office for Members of the Nominations Committee will be three (3) years, commencing September 1st.

(d) Should a Nominations Committee member wish to run for the positions described in Article 5.04 (c) (iii), they must step down from their role on the Nominations Committee.

(e) If there is a vacancy on the Nominations Committee, it will be filled, at the request of the Nominations Committee, by an election at the next Annual Convention for the balance of the term.

Add “and three (3) alternates” after “Committee”

Change bullet to “i” “If there are more than five (5) candidates, the five (5) candidates who receive the largest number of votes will be declared elected”

Add “to the Nominations Committee” after “elected”

Add bullet “ii” “The next three (3) candidates who receive the largest number of votes will be declared elected as alternates to the Nominations Committee”

Add “or alternate” after “Committee”

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

5.04 In the year prior to the elections for the Provincial Executive Officers and Regional Council Members, a five (5) Member Nominations Committee and three (3) alternates will be elected by delegates at the Annual Convention:

(a) If there are only five (5) candidates, the candidates will be deemed acclaimed to the Nominations Committee:

(i) If there are more than five (5) candidates, the five (5) candidates who receive the largest number of votes will be declared elected to the Nominations Committee.

(ii) The next three (3) candidates who receive the largest number of votes will be declared elected as alternates to the Nominations Committee.

Moved by: Sara Mattu, Council proposal

Seconded by: Scott Duvall

Costing: $1,000 per member onboarded

Add “or with” after “role on”

Add “first from the alternates to the Nominations Committee” after “filled”

Add “Any vacancy thereafter,” before “at the request”

Add “will be filled” after “Committee,”

Add “In the event, the Nominations Committee is unable to reach quorum, interim appointments will be chosen from the existing Regional Nomination Representatives as outlined in the Policies and Procedures”

(d) Should a Nominations Committee or alternate member wish to run for the positions described in Article 5.04 (c) (iii), they must step down from their role on or with the Nominations Committee.

(e) If there is a vacancy on the Nominations Committee, it will be filled first from the alternates to the Nominations Committee.

Any vacancy thereafter, at the request of the Nominations Committee, will be filled by an election at the next Annual Convention for the balance of the term.

In the event the Nominations Committee is unable to reach quorum, interim appointments will be chosen from the existing Regional Nominations Representatives as outlined in the Policies and Procedures.

AMENDMENT 6

BYLAWS ARTICLE 5 – ELECTIONS

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

5.02 Vacancies of Elected Positions:

(a) If there is a vacancy in the office of President, the Vice-President will become President;

Moved by: Adriane Gear

Seconded by: Paddy Kopieczek

Insert “of less than one (1) year” after “vacancy”

5.02 Vacancies of Elected Positions

(a) If there is a vacancy of less than one (1) year in the office of the President, the Vice-President will become President.

Costing: Special election costs if the vacancy in the office of the President is greater than 365 days $35,000.

AMENDMENT 7

BYLAWS

ARTICLE 5 – ELECTIONS

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

5.01 (c) Eligibility requirements will be determined by the Annual Convention at least the year prior to the elections but BCNU steward experience must be a requirement.

Replace “BCNU steward experience must be a requirement” with “must include the following requirements:

i. Regional Council Member candidates will require steward experience; and

ii. Provincial Executive Officer candidates will require at least one (1) year of experience in any combination of either a Regional Executive Committee Member or Regional Council Member position”

5.01 (c) Eligibility requirements will be determined by the Annual Convention at least the year prior to the elections but must include the following requirements:

i. Regional Council Member candidates will require steward experience; and

ii. Provincial Executive Officer candidates will require at least one (1) year of experience in any combination of either a Regional Executive Committee Member or Regional Council Member position.

Moved by: Jeanneth Jacome

Seconded by: Michael Young

Costing: nil

PROPOSED CONSTITUTION AND BYLAW AMENDMENTS

AMENDMENT 8

BYLAWS ARTICLE 7 – COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT

No current wording. Add new language:

7.05 Human rights and equity caucuses bargaining conference:

(a) Will be held prior to the provincial bargaining conference; and,

(b) At least one (1) member of each of the equity-seeking caucuses in each region will be allowed to attend.

To renumber existing clauses (7.05-7.11) to (7.06-7.12).

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

7.05 Human rights and equity caucuses bargaining conference:

(a) Will be held prior to the provincial bargaining conference; and,

(b) At least one (1) member of each of the equity-seeking caucuses in each region will be allowed to attend.

Moved by: Frances Beswick

Seconded by: Jessy Dame

Costing: $75,000 (Digital Conference)

AMENDMENT 9

BYLAWS ARTICLE 6 – PARLIAMENTARY

PROCEDURE

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT

6.04 There will be a Bylaws Committee, with a composition and duties to be approved by Council.

Moved by: Jessy Dame

Seconded by: Francis Beswick

Costing: $2,820

Insert “inclusive of human rights and equity representation,” after “composition”

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

6.04 There will be a Bylaws Committee, with a composition, inclusive of human rights and equity seeking representation, and duties to be approved by Council.

AMENDMENT 10

BYLAWS ARTICLE

2 – PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT

2.01 The Provincial Executive Committee will be comprised of the following Officers:

(a) President; (b) Vice-President; (c) Provincial Treasurer; and (d) Two (2) Executive Councillors Amend “Two (2)” to “Three (3)”

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

2.01 The Provincial Executive Committee will be comprised of the following Officers: (a) President; (b) Vice-President; (c) Provincial Treasurer; and (d) Three (3) Executive Councillors

Proviso: The position noted in the amendment above would be included in the 2023 general election and come into effect for the term commencing September 1, 2023.

Moved by: Tracia Batson-Dottin

Seconded by: Jessy Dame

Costing: $240,214

AMENDMENT 11

BYLAWS ARTICLE 5 –

ELECTIONS

CURRENT WORDING PROPOSED AMENDMENT IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

5.01 (b) (i) Eligible voters: i. Provincial Executive Officers will be elected by Members of the province, and

Moved by: Helena Barzilay

Seconded by: Caitlin Jarvis

Costing: $12,000

PUBLICATION DISCLAIMER

5.01 (b) (i) Remove “Members of the province” and insert “the voting delegates of a Convention”

5.01 (b) Eligible voters: i. Provincial Executive Officers will be elected by the voting delegates of a Convention, and

The inclusion of proposed bylaw amendments or resolutions is not intended to reflect the opinions or views of the Bylaws Committee, the Resolutions Committee, or the BCNU and its employees, unless otherwise expressly stated.

The respective movers are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of any mover’s rationales provided. The opinions expressed in the mover’s rationales are solely those of the respective movers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Bylaws Committee, the Resolutions Committee, or the BCNU and its employees.

Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact the accuracy of the information published, and the information may change without notice. The Bylaws Committee, the Resolutions Committee, or the BCNU and its employees are not in any way liable for the accuracy of any information provided.

RESOLUTIONS

RESOLUTION 1

Additional Seat on Resolutions Committee for HR&E Caucus Member

Whereas, BCNU’s mission statement is to protect and advance the health, safety, social and economic wellbeing of our members, our profession and our communities; and

Whereas, BCNU’s core values include equality, integrity, social justice, democracy, and excellence; and

Whereas, BCNU’s 2023 Strategic Directions state that BCNU is committed to addressing inequities in diversity and inclusivity;

Therefore be it that the Resolutions Committee will include human rights and equity seeking representation. resolved,

Moved by: Lindsay Manning

Seconded by: Frances Beswick

Costing: $2,820

RESOLUTION 2

Historical Advisor Position

Whereas, a BCNU historical advisor can provide insight to council;

Whereas, knowing the history of BCNU will enable leaders to better understand its past and help shape its future;

Whereas, a lack of historical understanding can contribute to poor decisions;

Whereas, one of BCNU’s values is Excellence which is demonstrated by incorporating best practices; and

Therefore be it that there be a BCNU historical advisor position for Council. resolved,

Moved by: Corinna Kachowski

Seconded by: Joanne Hamberg

Costing: $20,000

RESOLUTION 3

Bursaries for Internationally Educated Student Nurses

Whereas, the BC Nurses’ Union protects and advances the health, safety, social and economic well-being of our members, our profession and our communities;

Whereas, the protection and advancement of our members, our profession and our communities is based, in part, on addressing the nursing shortage;

Whereas, Internationally Educated Nurses represent a future solution to the nursing shortage;

Whereas, the process for obtaining a license to practice nursing in British Columbia is long and expensive placing significant hardship on Internationally Educated Nurses; and

Therefore be it that BCNU establishes five (5) $1,000 BCNU Internationally Educated Student Nurse Bursaries resolved, (BCNU IENSNB).

Moved by: Tracia Batson-Dottin

Seconded by: Vanessa Chong

Costing: $5,000 plus administrative costs

RESOLUTION 4

Dissolution of MIN Caucus

Whereas, the Human Rights & Equity Caucuses (MOC, LGBTQ, ILC & WWD) and the non-equity-seeking groups (MIN & YNN) were formed with the intention to create a safe space in which marginalized groups could find support and meet the needs of HRE caucuses;

Whereas, the hope is to eliminate inequities and in turn, eliminate the need for formal caucuses to exist;

Whereas, men make up roughly 25% of the BCNU Council while making up roughly 9% of the general nursing workforce in Canada1; and

Therefore be it that the Men in Nursing Caucus be dissolved. resolved,

Moved by: Helena Barzilay

Seconded by: Carly Koeppen

Costing: Savings of $48,800

RESOLUTIONS

RESOLUTION 5

Hire Consultant to Review Ratification Processes

Whereas, BCNU values democracy, integrity, and excellence;

Whereas, BCNU is committed to transparency, improving membership engagement and fostering trust; and

Therefore be it that BCNU Council will hire a third-party consultant to review the existing ratification processes resolved, and provide a report, including recommendations, to a future Annual Convention; and

Be it further that the hiring of the consultant will commence within 45 days of the adjournment of the BCNU resolved, 2022 Annual Convention.

Moved by: Adriane Gear

Seconded by: Sharon Sponton

Costing: $50,000 – $100,000

RESOLUTION 6

Hire Consultant to Review Election Processes

Whereas, BCNU values democracy, integrity, and excellence;

Whereas, BCNU is committed to transparency, improving membership engagement and fostering trust, and

Therefore be it that BCNU Council hire a third-party consultant to review the BCNU’s existing Provincial resolved, Executive Officer election processes and provide a report, including recommendations, to a future Annual Convention; and

Be it further that the hiring of the consultant will take place within 45 days of the adjournment of the BCNU resolved, 2022 Annual Convention.

Moved by: Adriane Gear

Seconded by: Sharon Sponton

Costing: $100,000 – $125,000

PUBLICATION DISCLAIMER

The inclusion of proposed bylaw amendments or resolutions is not intended to reflect the opinions or views of the Bylaws Committee, the Resolutions Committee, or the BCNU and its employees, unless otherwise expressly stated.

The respective movers are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of any mover’s rationales provided. The opinions expressed in the mover’s rationales are solely those of the respective movers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Bylaws Committee, the Resolutions Committee, or the BCNU and its employees.

Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact the accuracy of the information published, and the information may change without notice. The Bylaws Committee, the Resolutions Committee, or the BCNU and its employees are not in any way liable for the accuracy of any information provided.

HUMAN RIGHTS & EQUITY STRONGER TOGETHER

AN INTERVIEW WITH LGBTQ CAUCUS CHAIR JESSY DAME

NURSES IN THE 2SLGBTQIA+ community can often encounter unique challenges professionally and personally, such as homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. All too often, support is absent in the worksite. This reality has been identified and acknowledged by BCNU’s LGBTQ Caucus, which works to address and advance the concerns of 2SLGBTQIA+ union members.

Jessy Dame currently serves as LGBTQ Caucus provincial chair. Proudly Two-Spirit and Métis, Dame graduated from the Thompson Rivers University nursing program in 2015. In 2021, he completed his master of nursing degree at UBC. His first nursing job was in the NICU at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops. He later worked as a remote nurse with the First Nations Health Authority. Today, he works for Vancouver Coastal Health on the STOP HIV/AIDS outreach team.

Update Magazine sat down with Dame to learn what’s new with the LGBTQ Caucus.

UPDATE How has your master’s degree special project informed your practice?

DAME Within current society queer and Indigenous identities are typically labeled as a risk factor– so, my queerness and Indigeneity are seen as something that puts me at risk for negative health outcomes. Yet, the actual risk factors are homophobia

and racism, and in turn my identity protects me.

Within my master’s, I looked at queer and Two-Spirit men who have attempted suicide and what protective factors they had in place to decrease further suicide attempts. A major theme that was identified was the difference between connecting “to” health care and connecting “with” health care. When you connect “to” it’s an exchange, it’s extractive. When you connect “with” something, like health care, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. And that was the protective factor – to be connecting with health-care providers, with the health-care system. When we build relationships with our patients, within our health-care system it’s very different than “to” our patients and “to” our health-care system. This is the perspective I bring into every aspect of my practice and work within my role as caucus chair.

UPDATE How, why and when did you become involved with the LGBTQ Caucus?

DAME In my second year at nursing school, I started attending BCNU regional meetings and then became a caucus member. The reason was visibility: I’m very proudly queer and wanted to express that within my profession. I wanted to advocate for safety among queer nurses and within our union. Visibility and advocacy to

create a better world! Less homophobia benefits everybody.

UPDATE How can the LGBTQ Caucus improve nurses’ lives and working conditions?

DAME Visibility is an extremely beneficial piece for oppressed communities – it’s essential to promote health and leadership growth. The caucus advocates for queer rights within our union, our employers, and within our health profession. This year we’ve been very successful in joining large events like the provincial bargaining conference and convention, and having conversations at big tables about queer health and rights. There’s a direct correlation to improved working conditions.

UPDATE How often does the caucus meet? And what’s on the agenda?

DAME Officially we meet twice a year, spring and fall, but we actually meet four to six times a year or more! Earlier this year we met weekly to develop our gender diversity survey that explored the experiences of TwoSpirit, transgender, and non-binary members. We also drafted multiple

resolutions and bylaws for convention, which meant even more weekly meetings. We collect agenda items from each region for updates from around BC.

UPDATE What items is the caucus currently focused on?

DAME The survey I mentioned just wrapped up and we’re finalizing its results for release soon. We had a beautiful response! We hoped for a couple hundred responses but had about 600. We hope the findings increase visibility and can help address safety concerns at work for members since we now finally have a document that validates those concerns.

We’re also working on resolutions and bylaws to increase human rights and equity representation within the Bylaws, Resolutions and Provincial Bargaining committees. We’re fighting for equity, not equality. We want additional seats at these major tables to ensure a critical equity lens is applied.

UPDATE Why does the difference between equality and equity matter?

DAME Our history is fighting for

equal rights but, because it’s mass majority, smaller groups get eliminated. When there’s an issue of homophobia, what’s the priority in an equality system? When there’s an equity-based system, concerns are heard because it’s not based solely on numbers – all voices, regardless of number, are prioritized. Some folks need extra access to become equal eventually. That’s my approach as caucus chair. An equitable approach helps ensure access for everybody.

UPDATE How many LGBTQ Caucus members are there?

DAME Nine of 16 regional chair positions are filled. A lot of it is volunteer work done off the sides of our desks. But we’re passionate! It’s not just my work – this is my life, my partner’s life, and my friends’ lives when we’re talking about queer issues, concerns, and health.

UPDATE Why is it important for more members to join the LGBTQ Caucus?

DAME If we decrease discrimination and challenge homophobia, it benefits all. The more allies involved, the better. Visibility is extremely important to health outcomes. We need to hear all voices to create a kinder space. •

If you’re interested in joining the LGBTQ Caucus, please email the chair at lgbtq@ bcnu.org. For more information, contact Hanif Karim, BCNU human rights, equity and health policy officer.

HOW TO CONTACT YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUITY REPS

BCNU Human Rights and Equity Committee

Adriane Gear, Chair

E adrianegear@bcnu.org

Indigenous Leadership Circle

Catherine Tanski, Chair

E Indigenous@bcnu.org

Candi DeSousa, Council Liaison C 250-488-9232

E candidesousa@bcnu.org

LGBTQ Caucus

Jessy Dame, Chair

E lgbtq@bcnu.org

Tristan Newby, Council Liaison C 604-313-1308

E tristannewby@bcnu.org

Men in Nursing Group

Matthew Le Gresley, Chair

E meninnursing@bcnu.org

Walter Lumamba, Council Liaison C 604-512-2004

E walterlumamba@bcnu.org

Mosaic of Colour Caucus

Tracia Batson-Dottin, Chair E moc@bcnu.org

Parveen Gill, Council Liaison C 604-615-6815 E parveengill@bcnu.org

Workers with Disability Caucus

Kelly Woywitka, Chair

E disabilities@bcnu.org

Teri Forster, Interim Council Liaison C 250-615-8077

E teriforster@bcnu.org

Young Nurses’ Network

Melissa Vannerus, Chair E ynn@bcnu.org

Hardev Bhullar, Council Liaison C 778-855-0220

E hardevbhullar@bcnu.org

EQUITY CHAMPION BCNU LGBTQ Caucus chair Jessy Dame addresses union members and the public during a May 9 candlelight vigil in Victoria.

MAKING IT HAPPEN MANPREET KAUR ISN’T

GIVING UP

MANPREET KAUR recalls her childhood with something approximating wistfulness. “I was a very studious kid, but the thing I loved most was playing games, especially badminton and carom [a game where players take turns striking checker-like pieces into one of four corner-pockets on a square board],” Kaur recalls. “I used to play with my sisters, one of whom is now an emergency-room doctor.”

Kaur grew up in the district of Tarn Taran in the state of Punjab, India, in what she describes as an “average family,” not far from the city of Amritsar, home of the famed Golden Temple and the beating heart of Sikhism. “We lived in a three-room house with water and electricity, but money was a constant challenge, and us kids didn’t get a lot of pocket money or new clothes because my father was saving every penny for our future studies,” she explains.

Kaur had excellent grades throughout school and dreamed of going into dentistry. “There was a lot of competition to get into

ON HER

DESIRE

TO DO GOOD IN THE WORLD

the program, but the biggest hurdle was the cost,” she says. “It was just not affordable.” Instead, Kaur opted for nursing and was accepted into a four-year program at the University

College of Nursing in the city of Faridkot. “I was just 18 when I began the program,” she recalls, “leaving home and living in a hostel.” Kaur remembers that first week as a heady

mix of fear and excitement. “We had our theory classes from 08:00 to 12:00, a break for lunch, and then from 13:00 to 16:00 we were in clinical – for the first two months I cried every day,” she says.

In 2013 – following her graduation – Kaur was hired by a multinational hospital on the campus of the nursing college where she had been studying. “I was on a med/surg floor and was told that we would have two to three patients to care for on an eight-hour shift, but it was more like five or six or more patients, and the shifts sometimes lasted 10 or 11 hours, though we’d only be paid for eight – it was a difficult time,” she says. “I wasn’t sleeping well, and I wasn’t eating well and after a few months of being there I decided to leave.”

Kaur then returned to her hometown and was hired as an instructor by a private nursing college. “I really enjoyed the work, teaching clinical, health education, community health, and perinatal assessments,” she says, “but I was restless. I was only making $200 a month

NOT GIVING UP Manpreet Kaur recently earned her master’s degree and has a position the BC Cancer Agency while she works to secure her nursing licence in BC.

and I didn’t feel like I was growing or learning anything new.” In the meantime, Kaur’s friends were seeking opportunities in Australia, the UK and Canada. In 2015, she obtained a visa to study for a master’s degree in public health at a campus in Vancouver. She arrived in BC in 2016.

other component I achieved a successful score.”

RECRUITMENT REQUIRES SUPPORT

Canada’s nurses release position statement on internationally educated nurses

Manpreet Kaur

While completing her degree, Kaur initiated the application process to get her nursing licence. After graduating in 2018, she received a work permit and was hired as a nightshift manager at Vancouver International Airport. “After a while I was promoted to supervisor and spent my days-off studying for the IELTS [International English language testing system] exam,” she says. “I took the test three times – in 2017, 2019, and 2020 – and each time I was unsuccessful. I needed to score a 7 in academic writing but was only able to score a 6.5. On every

Kaur is philosophical about what she calls the “hurdle of the English language” and is confident she will successfully meet the standard. For now, she is readying herself to attend the College of Nursing Studies in Prince Edward Island to fulfill additional requirements for her nursing licence while continuing to work as a unit clerk at the BC Cancer Agency. “I am fine to go back to school, Kaur says. “The program is accessible and less expensive than comparable programs here, and it is accepted by the BC College of Nurses and Midwives.”

A desire to help others is what keeps Kaur going. “I want to do something nice, to do good in the world,” she says. “I remember the feeling I had when I was helping to debride a burn – the relief it brought to the patient – it was a nice feeling, the best feeling, to give relief.”

Kaur also notes that she couldn’t have made it this far without the support of her husband, Rajwinder, and Valerie Wong, a career coach at Douglas College. “It’s been a long and difficult journey and there’s still more to be done to achieve my dream, but I’m not giving up, I’ll never give up,” she says.

And you just know she’ll make that dream happen. •

CANADA’S WORSENING NURSING SHORTAGE HAS LED to a renewed focus on internationally educated nurses (IENs), both those currently in Canada and others working outside the country. The nurse staffing crisis is global in scale, and Canada in not alone in its need for skilled care providers. That’s why it’s important to ensure that the recruitment and retention of IENs within Canada is the first priority of governments and health policy makers.

This position was articulated recently in a statement published this year by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU). The CFNU recognizes that international nurse recruitment should be part of a comprehensive health human resource plan, but it states that provincial and territorial governments should not target nurses from countries that are experiencing a chronic or temporary shortage of nurses.

When international migration occurs, the CFNU will advocate to protect nurses’ interests and rights to ensure decent work. It also strongly supports IENs’ right to freedom of association, including the right to join a union in the pursuit of collective workplace goals arrived at through the collective bargaining process.

The CFNU recognizes that many internationally educated nurses currently in Canada are unemployed or underemployed, and the barriers to working as a nurse in Canada are onerous, expensive and time-consuming. Internationally educated nurses have the right to expect appropriate clinical and cultural orientation, and supportive supervision in their workplaces. They also have the right to fair and equal treatment on employment-related issues, including working conditions, promotion and access to career development.

The CFNU sates that nurses’ unions will actively engage with employers to ensure that IENs have conditions of employment as favourable as those of other nurses in Canada, and to encourage a workplace environment that is culturally safe, and respects diversity and multicultural perspectives.

Read the full statement on your mobile device:

“There’s still more to be done to achieve my dream.”

YOUR PENSION

ANSWERS TO YOUR PENSION QUESTIONS

IF YOU’VE BEEN WORKING IN BC’S PUBLIC HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SERVICES system (health authorities and affiliates, and community social service agencies) chances are you’re part of the Municipal Pension Plan (MPP) or the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP).

Even if retirement is the furthest thing from your mind, it’s a good idea to understand how your pension plan works, and make sure you are getting the most of this important benefit.

Here are the answers to some of our members’ most frequently asked questions about the MPP and PSPP, the two plans to which most BCNU members belong.

How is my retirement benefit calculated and how do I know how much I will receive when I retire?

Your actual pension benefit at retirement is not based on contributions. It is based on a formula that takes into consideration your age and your spouse’s age (if any) at retirement, your highest average salary (HAS), your years of pensionable service and the pension option you choose at retirement.

Section 3 of your Member Benefit Statement provides an estimate of your monthly pension benefit at retirement.

The plan will give you a lifetime pension, starting when you retire. After your death, depending on what kind of pension option you chose, the plan may continue to pay pension benefits to your spouse (if you have one) for their life time or to another beneficiary for

a set period, or it may pay a lump sum payment to your estate.

To increase your pension, you can increase your salary and/or your pensionable service.

Your Member Benefit Statement also notes your pensionable earnings and your pensionable service for the previous calendar year (Section 4). If you want to review your pensionable service history or estimate what your pension might be, based on your current personal information, you can access the “My Account” page on the BC Pension Corporation website and use the General Pension Estimator tool.

Not all earnings are pensionable. For example, straight time earnings are pensionable, but overtime is not.

If you’re a member of the MPP and the PSPP and work for more than one employer, you will contrib -

ute on all earnings but will not accrue more than 12 months of pensionable service in one year. However, the total salary will be used to calculate your five-year highest average salary.

Why does my Member Benefit Statement show less than 12 months of pensionable service when I work full time and never take unpaid leaves?

If you work the full number of shifts assigned to you in a year, your pensionable service should be 12 months if you work full time.

There are legitimate reasons why you may be short pensionable service such as: you took more hours off than what was in your bank (such as vacation or sick leave bank); you swapped shifts and didn’t complete the swap; you really did take an unpaid leave; you took an unpaid leave and did not apply to purchase that pension time back; or you had a

change in rotation mid-year and lost time. The fact that you are paid in January for shifts worked in the previous year should not result in a shortfall in service.

If you feel that your pensionable service is not reported correctly, contact your employer. If you disagree with the report from your employer, contact your steward for assistance.

I take time off without pay (Leaves of Absence – LOA) during the year. Can I contribute to my pension when I am on an LOA and is my employer required to contribute?

Article 37 of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association provincial collective agreement (Leave – General) states that members will not lose benefits for the first 20 days (150 hours) of an unpaid leave of absence each year.

In order for your pension benefit to remain whole,

you can buy the service for the time you were not contributing to the plan. To do so you must submit a purchase of service form to your employer’s human resources department when you return from the leave.

You have five years to purchase back the service. However, your employer is only obligated to pay its share of the contribution for the year prior to the application for purchase of service. Note that you must apply prior to March 31 of the year following the year when the leave(s) was taken in order to trigger the employer’s obligation to pay its share. For example, if you apply to purchase service on or before March 31, 2023, you will pay your share and your employer will pay theirs. But if you apply after March 31, 2023 to purchase service for leaves taken in 2022 or before, you will have to pay both your and

your employer’s share of the contribution.

If I apply for a purchase of service for an LOA, do I have to pay my share all at once?

Yes, you will receive a letter from the Pension Corporation advising you of the amount of your share of contribution pay, the date by which it must be paid and of payment options. You can transfer money directly from an RRSP to pay for purchase of pension service and it is considered tax neutral –you will not be taxed for withdrawing the RRSP early nor will you get a taxable credit for paying into the pension.

I work part time at one facility and started casual in another. Do I have to contribute to the pension plan as a casual?

If you are a member of the Municipal Pension Plan with one employer and start working with another employer, the second employer must enrol you in the plan at the date of hire.

I am quitting my job and starting to work with another employer who offers the MPP. Do I have to wait another three months to be eligible for enrolment if I take a regular job or meet the criteria again if I take a casual position?

As long as you are hired within 30 days from your termination date, your new employer must enrol you in the plan as a new regular or casual employee. If more than 30 days pass between the last

day of your old job and the first day of your new job, you will need to meet the eligibility rules again to rejoin the plan.

I belong to the MPP now and want to take a casual job with another plan employer. What happens to my pension at the second employer?

As you are already a contributing member of the MPP, your new employer is required to enrol you in the plan immediately.

Can I defer my pension?

Yes. If you terminate employment prior to being able to start your pension, you can defer the pension until a later date. For example, if you terminate employment at age 50, you can leave your funds in the plan and begin to draw your pension as early as age 55.

I chose a Single Life Pension, guaranteed for 15 years and have a dependent child that is on my post-retirement group benefits. What happens to the benefits if I die prior to the guarantee period?

Your dependent can remain covered by post-retirement group benefits until the end of the guarantee period only. If your beneficiary is not listed as a dependent with benefit coverage, they will not be able to enrol. •

MORE QUESTIONS?

Contact Michelle Sordal, BCNU Executive Councillor – Pensions 604-445-2003 or michellesordal@bcnu.org

NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS PENSION PLAN PERFORMANCE

The Municipal Pension Plan’s 2021 Report to Members is now available online and it features comprehensive information about the financial health of the plan.

The 2021 report shows that the plan remains fully funded and secure despite continued market volatility and uncertainty as the world faces ongoing headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan earned investment returns of 11.5 percent on an annual basis (over the benchmark of 7.8 percent). But more importantly, over the past five years the plan has earned an annualized rate of return of 9.7 percent. These returns are well above the plan’s investment return objective of 6.5 percent.

The report also highlights actions trustees took over the past year to ensure the value and sustainability of the plan. Trustees’ proactive and prudent management of the plan helped the plan’s assets grow by $7.7 billion in 2021.

The Municipal Pension Plan remains the largest public sector pension plan in BC, and the sixth largest in Canada.

Read the report on your mobile device today!

YOUR PENSION

SECURING YOUR FUTURE

TIME FOR A MINIVAN? YOUR PENSION AND

YOUR CHILDREN

PLANNING FOR PARENTHOOD CAN BE A TIME OF excitement and anticipation. But before you start looking at minivans, don’t forget about your pension. There are practical steps Municipal Pension Plan members can take to ensure that raising children does not come at the expense of retirement security.

TOP UP YOUR PENSION

When you take time off work to look after your child, you won’t be receiving your regular salary or contributing to your pension. This will affect your current income, and it will also affect your pension when you retire.

Your pension is calculated based on your years of pensionable service and the average of your five highest years of salary. The more pensionable service you have, the greater your pension.

Although you normally accumulate pensionable service by working and con-

tributing to the plan, you can also buy back service to cover the period of an approved maternity, parental or adoption leave.

The cost to do this is calculated using the length of your leave, along with the employee and employer contribution rates and your full-time equivalent salary when you apply to buy service. You’ll be responsible for paying your employee share, and your employer will pay their share.

You can sign in to My Account on the newly redesigned MPP website and use the personalized purchase cost estimator to see how much this might cost.

You must meet criteria and timelines under pension plan

rules. For example, you have five years from the end of a leave, or 30 days from termination of employment, to buy a leave. The Income Tax Act has its own rules too.

BOOST YOUR CONTRIBUTORY SERVICE WITH A CHILD-REARING CREDIT

Your total pensionable service isn’t the only factor influencing your pension. Your years of contributory service count as well. The MPP uses this to calculate whether you are eligible for an unreduced pension before the age of 60.

You can apply to have the time you took off work to raise your child or children count as contributory service, called a child-rearing credit. There’s no cost involved – all you have to do is apply, and the MPP will add up to five years of time you took off work looking after your child to your years of contributory service.

PROTECT YOUR BENEFICIARIES

Your pension may provide some financial security for

your family when you die. If you have a spouse, they are automatically your beneficiary and will receive your pension benefit. If you have a child, you may want to name them as an alternate beneficiary in case your spouse also dies or to provide for your child on your death. Depending on your situation, you may wish to name your child as a primary beneficiary. If you have a spouse, they will have to give up their right to be the automatic beneficiary of your pension for you to do this. Consider also naming a trustee for your beneficiary to manage your pension on your behalf if your child is under age 19.

PLANNING FOR YOUR NEW FUTURE

Becoming a parent is one of life’s most significant and exciting events. And as with all major changes in your life, it’s wise to take a few moments to review your financial situation and consult an independent financial adviser, including your options when it comes to work and your pension. •

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM TO PAY FOR PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS?

BOTH EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES CONTRIBUTE TO THE PLANS, AND THEIR contributions are invested. The plans’ investment income finances about 70 to 80 percent of the benefits paid to members. Contributions from members and employers make up the remaining 20 to 30 percent. Each generation pays in advance for its own pension benefits, and employers and employees equally share the risks associated with funding the defined benefit portion of the plans.

COUNCIL PROFILE

HERE’S WHO’S WORKING FOR YOU

A MODEL OF RESILIENCE BCNU EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR AIDA HERRERA

QUICK FACTS

NAME Aida Herrera

GRADUATED 2011, Douglas College. 1999, University of El Salvador UNION POSITION Executive Councillor, OHS and Mental Health

WHY I SUPPORT BCNU?

“Knowing the history of BCNU shows how important this union is for supporting nurses.”

AIDA HERRERA KNOWS A thing or two about resilience. Educated as an anesthetist in El Salvador, she became a nurse after immigrating to Canada in 2001.

“I did not get any credits for my studies in El Salvador, so I had no other choice but to go to nursing school,” she says. “And once I became a nurse, I realized I loved it.”

Herrera began her nursing career as an RN at Surrey Memorial Hospital after graduating from Douglas College in 2011. She started out as a casual nurse, working on medical units before getting a full-time position in the nephrology unit. She is trained in peritoneal dialysis.

During her time working as an RN in the nephrology unit at SMH, she recalls advocating for safe working conditions, safe staffing levels and a respectful workplace free of violence. She and her nurse colleagues were able to talk to the employer about changing the practice of putting two patients in rooms that were only equipped for one.

“We were able to make those changes with the support of the union,” says Herrera.

Herrera first became involved in the union as a

steward in 2019, and began filing grievances on behalf of her colleagues.

“I wanted to do something positive for members,” she says.

Herrera was elected as the union’s Executive Councillor for occupational health and safety and mental health in 2020.

She says working as a nurse and becoming a member of BCNU’s Provincial Executive Committee has reinforced her belief that workers need unions to protect them.

“Knowing what BCNU has done for our members and learning about the history of the union, I don’t see how I could not support it,” Herrera remarks.

In addition to serving on the Provincial Executive Committee, Herrera is a member of the Provincial Job Action Committee, the Essential Services Committee and all provincial health and safety committees. She chairs the BCNU Provincial OHS Committee and is Council liaison to BCNU’s 16 regional mental health advocates. She is also part of the union’s Grievance Assessment Committee appeals team, the Peer Support Advisory Group,

the Clinical Mentors Sub Working Group and the Policy Review Committee.

Herrera says serving in the role of Executive Councillor for occupational health and safety and mental health has also shown her the importance of working together to create safe workplaces.

“The union is here to support members in doing the work of filing grievances and reporting unsafe issues, such as hazards, violence, bullying and harassment,” she says.

While on Council, Herrera hopes to continue advocating for a physically and psychologically safe workplace for all nurses, including those in community, long-term care, acute care, and small and rural workplaces. She also wants to continue being the voice of nurses when dealing with organizations like the Ministry of Health or WorkSafeBC.

“Nurses should be able to feel safe when they are working, and I think the employer has a lot of work to do to make sure that the worksites they manage are resilient. We don’t just need nurses to be more resilient, we need the employer to create a resilient work environment,” she says. •

“We don’t just need nurses to be more resilient, we need the employer to create a resilient work environment,” says BCNU Executive Councillor Aida Herrera.

WHO CAN HELP?

BCNU IS HERE TO SERVE MEMBERS

BCNU CAN. Here’s how you can get in touch with the right person to help you.

CONTACT YOUR

Stewards for all workplace concerns. Regional Council Members if your steward can’t help, or for all regional matters. Provincial Executive Committee for all provincial, national or union policy issues.

PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PRESIDENT Aman Grewal C 604-813-7208 amangrewal@bcnu.org

VICE PRESIDENT Adriane Gear C 778-679-9968 adrianegear@bcnu.org

REGIONAL COUNCIL MEMBERS

CENTRAL VANCOUVER

Gerald Dyer C 604-786-0594 geralddyer@bcnu.org Kelly Zander C 778-222-3756 kellyzander@bcnu.org

COASTAL MOUNTAIN

Kath-Ann Terrett C 604-828-0155 kterrett@bcnu.org

EAST KOOTENAY Denise Waurynchuk C 250-919-2178 denisewaurynchuk@bcnu.org

FRASER VALLEY

Parveen Gill C 604-615-6815 parveengill@bcnu.org

NORTH EAST Jereme Bennett (interim) C 778-989-5275 jeremebennett@bcnu.org

NORTH WEST Teri Forster C 250-615-8077 teriforster@bcnu.org

OKANAGAN SIMILKAMEEN Candice DeSousa C 250-488-9232 candidesousa@bcnu.org

PACIFIC RIM Kelley Charters C 250-816-0865 kelleycharters@bcnu.org

TREASURER

Sharon Sponton C 250-877-2547 sharonsponton@bcnu.org

EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR Michelle Sordal C 604-445-2003 michellesordal@bcnu.org

EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR

Aida Herrera C 604-612-8871 aidaherrera@bcnu.org

RICHMOND VANCOUVER

Sara Mattu C 778-989-8231 saramattu@bcnu.org

SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS Claudette Jut C 604-786-8422 claudettejut@bcnu.org

SIMON FRASER Tristan Newby C 604-313-1308 tristannewby@bcnu.org

Wendy Gibbs C 604-240-1242 wendygibbs@bcnu.org

SOUTH FRASER VALLEY Hardev Bhullar C 778-855-0220 hardevbhullar@bcnu.org

Walter Lumamba C 604-512-2004 walterlumamba@bcnu.org

SOUTH ISLANDS

Carly Koeppen C 250-883-6593 carlykoeppen@bcnu.org

Leanne Robertson-Weeds C 778-222-7997 leannerobertsonweeds@bcnu.org

THOMPSON NORTH OKANAGAN

Scott Duvall C 250-241-5952 scottduvall@bcnu.org

VANCOUVER METRO Meghan Friesen C 604-250-0751 meghanfriesen@bcnu.org

WEST KOOTENAY

Shalane Wesnoski C 250-231-1005 shalanewesnoski@bcnu.org

MEMBERS AFTER HOURS

FESTIVAL IN THE FOREST JORDIE LAIDLAW BRINGS MUSIC AND ART TO NORTHERN BC

JORDIE LAIDLAW HAS attended the annual Burning Man event on over five occasions. He even married his wife Erinn at the infamous gathering in the Nevada desert in 2019. The Mills Memorial Hospital RN says he was inspired to bring a similar experience to his northern BC community because so many of his friends were unable to afford the trek south.

Today, he and Erinn are key members of the organizing team for ValhallaFest, an art and music festival that’s held during the summer solstice in an ancient forest just outside of Terrace, and where up to 950 attendees, including performers, organizers, and volunteers, camp out for three days.

Laidlaw’s friend first had the idea of hosting ValhallaFest on his property near the Zymagotitz River. In 2018, Erinn became involved as director of music, and Jordie followed suit, joining a couple of months later.

FREE EXPRESSION ValhallaFest director of art Jordie Laidlaw uses a shadow box, which is a screen made from a bed sheet that gets hit with reflective spray paint and casts a shadow while people dance.

“We had plans to attend Burning Man that year. But I had transferred from medical surgery to ICU and lost my vacation,” explains Laidlaw. “So, I decided to focus on helping to launch the ValhallaFest instead and became the director of art for the inaugural event.”

ValhallaFest preparations start in November. Up to 60 volunteers help ensure the event goes smoothly. Laidlaw is one of the four members of the core organizing team, which includes a director of

music, a CEO and treasurer. “I’m a catch-all responsible for the visual appeal of the event, along with crew training that includes safety plans for violence prevention and de-escalation techniques,” he says.

Laidlaw started practising in 2015 and says his nursing competencies have come in useful for his work at the festival. “My ability to remain and appear calm during chaotic moments is very useful. I also use a lot of my communications skills to host groundcrew training days for the volunteers,” he explains.

Laidlaw’s work colleagues have been supportive of his volunteer efforts. “We are usually stacking first aid requirements with nurses

who want to go to the event,” he chuckles.

Festival-goers buy a wrist band for the entire weekend event. There are three stages. Two host electronic music and the third acoustic music.

“A wide range of ages come out to enjoy music and food trucks until the sun comes up,” Laidlaw reports. “My parents, who are in their mid-fifties, came from Haida Gwaii for the first time. We hosted a lot more families, fisherman, loggers, people from all backgrounds.”

Daytime activities at the festival include free classes and art installations. “There has been a painting workshop, a cosplay experience, a marketplace and a glass blowing demo,” says Laidlaw.

In-person ValhallaFest events had to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021 on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t dampen interest in this year’s event. Laidlaw imagines there will be even more ValhallaFest attendees in 2023. “Three stages are a lot to manage, but I can anticipate capping it at 1,200 people for next year.”

Looking ahead, Laidlaw says he wants his future kids to attend. “Everything about the site has been prepared to an industrial level, including cedar wood and poured concrete to make it a location to be used as a permanent venue for decades.”

•

Visit valhallafest.ca for more information.

PHOTO: LENS OF LOVE.

BCNU HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUITY-SEEKING CAUCUSES

Promoting equity and recognizing our collective struggle for justice – in BC and around the world

Find out more at bcnu.org > About BCNU > Human Rights and Equity