B.C. nurses vote 98 per cent in favour of strike, union says

File photo.

Members of the B.C. Nurses’ Union have voted 98.2 per cent in favour of a strike, paving the way for potential job action.

More than 50,000 nurses took part in the online vote, which was conducted over four days beginning Friday, delivering what the union called the “strongest strike mandate” in its history.

“Nurses across British Columbia are demanding the respect, safety and fair contract they deserve,” BCNU president Adriane Gear said in a statement Tuesday.

The vote was held after talks with the provincial Employers Bargaining Association reached an impasse earlier this year over issues including benefits, pay and staffing shortages.

The results give the union the legal ability to take job action with 72 hours’ notice.

“Nurses do not want to be in this position,” Gear said. “Yet they are prepared to fight for the future of nursing and for a health-care system that is safe, sustainable and able to retain the nurses that patients.”

The overwhelming support for a strike gives the union’s bargaining committee “leverage needed to push for meaningful progress,” the BCNU said in a news release.

With files from The Canadian Press