Listen to the broadcast version of this story, which aired on Kootenay Morning on July 1, 2026:
By Jaime Frederick, Local Journalism Initiative
The BC Nurses Union (BCNU) has issued a 72-hour strike notice after its members voted to reject a tentative agreement that had been reached in late May after seven months of collective bargaining.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, BCNU President Adriane Gear said the 60,000 members of the union–who are now in a legal position to take job action as of noon on Thursday, July 2–are demanding that their frustrations with worsening working conditions be heard.
“Nurses are demanding that our work be valued,” said Gear. “And we are demanding that government and health employers recognize a simple truth: there is no healthcare system without nurses. For many nurses, this is more than a collective agreement. It is about a profession that has reached a breaking point. It is about nurses who can no longer stay silent as they watch experienced and novice colleagues leave the profession injured and burnt out.”
In total, 67 per cent of union members rejected the tentative deal that had been reached with the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC). The rejected deal had included improvements to benefits coverage and a general wage increase of 12 per cent over four years. The deal was also reported to have addressed priorities nurses identified throughout bargaining, including workplace safety, violence prevention, and other measures to improve working conditions for nurses across BC.
Gear suggested that given the severity of working conditions for nurses, BCNU members are demanding that the government and health employers prioritize their needs and patient safety first.
“This is fundamentally a conversation about priorities,” said Gear. “Nurses understand that the provincial government is facing financial difficulties. However, this government has shown it can find resources when something is a priority. For example, over half a billion dollars spent on private agency nursing, or hundreds of millions to host an international sporting event. Today, nurses are demanding that healthcare be a priority for this government, that patient safety be a priority. And that the very people holding the healthcare system together be a priority.”
BC’s Health Minister, Josie Osborne, said in a statement that “nurses are valued members of the healthcare system” and that the government respects “the right of all workers to bargain collectively, including the decision by union members to take job action.” She added that she believes “the best agreements are found at the bargaining table” and that the government is giving “the health employers association and the nurses’ bargaining association space” to conduct their negotiations.
Gear says the union is still committed to reaching a new collective agreement through bargaining, but stressed that BCNU members are also ready to take job action. She noted that could take different forms, including banning nurses from performing non-nursing duties, restricting overtime or withdrawing labour, as long as essential service levels are maintained.
“But that is the last thing that we want to do,” said Gear. “And so, by giving this notice, we hope that the government and the employer responds and finds a way to address the concerns of nurses in this province. So that we don’t have to take that extraordinary step. A step that hasn’t been taken in this province [for a] very long time.“
The Health Employers’ Association of BC issued a statement saying that they would also like to return to the bargaining table and are “available to meet with the union at any time to find a path forward.” They added that “BC has essential services orders in place for the health sector to prevent immediate and serious danger to the health of the public in the case of any job action.”
Health Minister Osborne also assured the public that, in the event of job action, “people will continue to get the health care they need” and that “the Labour Board has robust processes in place to thoughtfully set what constitutes an essential service.”
In May, BCNU members voted almost unanimously in favour of job action if they were unable to secure a fair collective agreement. That led to the tentative deal with the HEABC at the end of May. Kootenay Co-op Radio reached out to both the HEABC and the BCNU to inquire if the parties had returned to the bargaining table, but neither party had responded by deadline. The last time nurses went out on strike in BC was in 2001.
