BCNU Update Magazine Dec. 2012

december 2012

flu season: bcnu slams coercive vaccine policy

better benefits: joint committee explores options

Update british columbia nurses’ union

Bargaining

2012 success

keeping the Promise of safe staffing and safe patient care

www.BCNU.ORG

Lpn elections: meet the newest additions to bcnu council

PLUs constitution and by-laws pull-out

lpns join bcnu

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influenza control policy position statement pull-out Stronger together LPN Rosita Nadela and RN Julie Brandly

Caring shouldn’t hurt Every day in British Columbia nurses are bit, hit and spit upon, pushed, kicked and screamed at. It must stop now.

Find out more at bcnu.org under Health & Safety or contact your steward.

update magazine December 2012

Update

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Contents vol 31 no 4

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december 2012

Robert Constantin Tanase and Julie Brandly

UPFRONT

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Check In

News and updates from events around the province.

12 Shot In The Dark

BCNU is speaking out against coercive flu vaccination policy.

14 Nursing Hearts And Minds

Sixth annual nursing practice conference highlights mental health.

16 LPNs Join BCNU

More than 7,200 LPNs are welcomed to the BC Nurses’ Union.

24 Better Benefits

BCNU to explore options for affordable and sustainable benefits plans.

26 Violence in the Workplace Sharing strategies at international conference brings healthcare workers together.

DEPARTMENTS

feature

20 keeping the promise

The new Nurses’ Bargaining Association provincial contract provides nurses with critical tools to improve our workloads and our ability to provide quality care. It’s now up to us to use them – and help keep the promise of safe staffing and safe patient care.

5 President’s Report 13 Health and Safety 35 PrFs Work 36 Council Profile 37 Who Can Help?

38 Off Duty Special pull-out

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

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The flu shot may be the best we’ve got

BC Nurses’ Union

Update MAGAZINE

our Mission Statement BCNU protects and advances the health, social and economic well-being of our members and our communities.

BCNU UPDATE is published by the BC Nurses’ Union, an independent Canadian union governed by a council elected by our 40,000 members. Signed articles do not necessarily represent official BCNU policies.

EDITOR Lew MacDonald CONTRIBUTORS Juliet Chang, Sharon Costello, David Cubberly, Gary Fane, Monica Ghosh, Robert Macquarrie, Debra McPherson, Art Moses, Dan Tatroff, Patricia Wejr PHOTOS Sharon Costello, Lew MacDonald, Art Moses, Dan Tatroff, Patricia Wejr

CONTACT US BCNU Communications Department

But don’t • force • penalize • coerce us Patient safety is always our first priority and nurses use clinical judgement for the protection of all.

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 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

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update magazine December 2012

president’s Report

Debra McPherson

A year of successes

photo: Chris Cameron

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ooking back on 2012, there’s no question it has been a year of successes for BCNU. When the year began we were kicking off provincial contract negotiations with a very ambitious agenda on workload and increased nurse staffing for safe patient care. Our agenda collided with government’s determination to hold the line on increased spending to balance its budget.

At the same time, we were in the midst of one of the largest organizing drives in the province’s history, with the Labour Relations Board yet to decide whether it would allow Licensed Practical Nurses to vote on joining BCNU. Now fast forward. After many months of difficult negotiations we reached an agreement with health employers on a new provincial contract at the end of September, which was ratified overwhelmingly by members a few weeks later. We’ve now made significant progress toward our bargaining goal – safe patient care through safe staffing.

Then on October 5th the LRB certified BCNU as the new union and bargaining agent for 7,200 LPNs directly employed by provincial health authorities. A few days earlier the LRB had finally counted the ballots and announced that LPNs in five health authorities and at Providence Health Care had voted by a large margin to join with RNs and RPNs in one united professional nurses’ union. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all new LPN members and encourage you to get involved in your new union. As promised, elections were held for LPN representatives on the Bargaining Committee and Council and I am pleased to congratulate the six newly elected LPNs who have now joined the BCNU Council table.

I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement throughout the bargaining process, as you helped our bargaining committee establish members’ top priorities and work to achieve them.

We’ve managed to gain extremely strong contract language that gives members covered by the NBA provincial contract the tools to address workload, improve patient care, add more RNs/RPNs and enhance job security.

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Now it’s up to those of us in the Nurses’ Bargaining Association to make sure we use the new provisions to make a difference for ourselves and for our patients. That means enforcing the agreement – especially the provisions governing replacement of nurses who are off on leave and for situations of overcapacity, as well as the language governing the transition to a 37.5-hour week.

We agreed to the increase in full-time hours under the government’s “cooperative gains mandate” as an exchange for the significant gains throughout the contract, but only when the employer agreed there will be no layoffs as a result. The employer has agreed to work to ensure the transition to the 37.5-hour week will be as smooth as possible and minimize the impact on nurses.

The union will support members and stewards in holding the employers’ feet to the fire on all the commitments they made at the bargaining table.

At the same time, in the months ahead we also need to work to ensure that our new LPN members are welcomed fully into BCNU and get the right to bargain as nurses within the NBA. We want our new LPN members to be covered by the same provincial contract as other nurses and to benefit from its provisions. A key priority in 2013 will be working with the provincial government to ensure this comes about.

The successes of 2012 reflect the strength and determination of individual members and activists across the province who have come together to protect their profession and advance the interests of members and the public.

I’m confident that the new NBA agreement will make a positive difference to members in improving workload, job security and compensation. I’m also confident that with LPNs now forming a significant part of BCNU’s membership, our bargaining strength will be further enhanced. In both areas we’ll be working hard to ensure employers and the provincial government are Keeping the Promise.

I would like to thank all of you this holiday season for being there when patients need it most. Many of you will be working through the holidays away from warm homes and loved ones. Your dedication must not go unacknowledged.

I wish you all the best this holiday season and look forward to the possibilities of the New Year. update

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CHECK IN

News from around the province

Ensuring a commitment BCNU President Debra McPherson and Vice-President Christine Sorensen met with Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid shortly after the new PCA was ratified.

SOLIDARITY helps SAVE SACRED VILLAGE SITE

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his summer BCNU joined with concerned citizens and organizations from around the lower mainland and BC to stand behind the Musqueam people’s efforts to save a 4000-year-old village site from a condo developer’s excavators.

The province had granted developers a permit to build a five-storey commercial and residential project on the site located at the north arm of the Fraser River on Marine Drive in Vancouver.

Known as the “Marpole Midden”, the acre-sized site was designated a Canadian heritage site in 1933. The midden — an archaeological term for the deposits that are left behind by

people — contains the remains of a Coast Salish winter village as well as various artifacts from early inhabitants and is one of the largest pre-contact middens in Western Canada.

For five months the Musqueam Band fought to have construction halted after builders unearthed two intact adult remains and the partial remains of one infant, in addition to numerous broken bones and artifacts.

The band offered to work at a compromise, including repatriation of the remains and an equal land trade with a piece of property near the site that would leave the midden intact — but their pleas to respect the sacred site fell on deaf ears.

In a June letter of support sent

to the premier and responsible ministers, BCNU President Debra McPherson stated that “denying traditional practices and cultural security severely compromises the health of our First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples,” and urged proactive dialogue to resolve the issue.

Then on August 10, McPherson and an enthusiastic contingent of BCNU members marched in protest with the Musqueam and supporters to mark the 100th day of the dispute and the Musqueam’s vigil over the open graves of their ancestors. The march— which blocked traffic leading to a major Vancouver-Richmond bridge in order to bring greater public attention to the issue—

demonstrated the support of social justice activists and organizations who were joining the growing chorus of opposition to the desecration of the burial grounds.

Community solidarity and determination on the part of the Musqueam people finally paid off this September when the band received news from the province that it would no longer extend the developer’s building permits and ordered that the disturbed remains be returned to their original state.

Plans for the site now include the creation of a public park, but a financial deal with the developer has yet to be reached for the multi-million dollar property. update

FAREWELL DAN

This September BCNU bid farewell to Update editor Dan Tatroff, who left after 16 years with BCNU. Dan worked diligently to ensure that members were informed about union activities and nursing issues.

He brought full colour to the magazine and recently led a major redesign.

Dan was always there for members and elected leaders – interviewing them for stories or photographing them at union events.

We wish Dan all the best in his future endeavours.

Taking over from Dan is Lew MacDonald who comes to BCNU after six years as coordinator at the BC Health Coalition.

update magazine December 2012

making news

bcnu in the headlines

FLU SEASON FIGHT BACK

When BCNU filed a grievance objecting to provincial health employers’ move to force more than 100,000 public healthcare workers to be vaccinated against seasonal influenza before December 1, radio station CKNW spoke to President Debra McPherson.

McPherson spoke out against the punitive aspects of the policy requiring nurses to wear a mask throughout flu season if not vaccinated and wear a sticker confirming their vaccination status.

“We encourage our members to still get a flu shot if they choose to because we think for whatever prevention it does provide for them, it’s the best we’ve got right now.

Would we like to see something better? Absolutely.

Would we like to see it forced on them with punitive measures? Absolutely not,” said McPherson.

BCNU turned up the heat on employers after a letter critical of the policy was published in the The Vancouver Sun. Written by Dr. Thomas Jefferson – a representative of the U.K.-based Cochrane Collaboration – the letter effectively shredded the credibility of the rationales touted by provincial health officer Perry Kendall and others forcing healthcare workers to get the shot or wear a mask.

“It’s time for B.C. health employers to withdraw their coercive policy on flu shots for

health care workers, in light of scientific reviews questioning the credibility of the very studies they’re using to justify the policy,” wrote McPherson in a letter published in the Sun. “Nurses always strive to conduct ourselves in ways that are based on evidence.

In light of the latest evidence presented by what are very credible scientific organizations untainted by drug company influence, it’s time for health employers to re-examine their policy and back off on their ill-advised attempts to coerce nurses and other healthcare workers to get the flu shot.”

Speaking to The Nanaimo Daily News, BCNU Pacific Rim Chair Jo Taylor said the union supports the flu vaccine as the best option for flu prevention, but said the proposed policy amounts to a public display of private health information and is concerned with the privacy and rights of its members.

“It’s punitive, basically is what it’s coming down to,” said Taylor of the policy.

“They shouldn’t be able to go to our physicians and ask us if (we’ve) had the flu shot.”

Speaking to The Globe and Mail more recently, BCNU Executive Councillor Margaret Dhillon said that BCNU members should be allowed to make up their own minds.

“We believe it shouldn’t be mandated” she said.

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BCNU SUPPORTS $10 A DAY CHILD CARE CAMPAIGN

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he lack of accessible and affordable child care is a serious issue for an ever-growing number of BC families. Currently, Canada ranks last among developed countries in supporting quality early child care – and BC has licensed child care spaces for only about 20 percent of the province’s children.

The lack of government leadership in addressing this crisis is one of the primary reasons for the growth of child poverty, both nationally and provincially. That’s why BCNU is supporting the Coalition of Childcare Advocates of BC’s campaign for a $10a-day child care plan.

Under the plan, new public dollars will go to child care programs to cap parent fees at $10 per day for full-time care and $7 per day for part-time care and make it free for families who make less than $40,000 per year. Families could save up to $10,000 per year and many could move out of poverty. Currently, parents with young children may be forced out of the labour market because they can’t afford child care and as a consequence end up living below the poverty line due to reduced family income.

In the Coalition’s plan, funding would be allocated to increase child care workers’ wages to an average of $25 per hour plus benefits. Along with increased educational opportunities, early childhood educators would finally earn the income and respect they deserve.

The cost of the plan would be offset by additional taxes paid by early childhood educators and from 17,000 more working mothers. Quebec’s popular $7 per day program recovers $1.05 for every dollar Quebec invests.

“This plan has the potential to make a real difference for BC’s children, families and communities and certainly for many working nurses as well,” says BCNU president Debra McPherson.

“That’s why BCNU will be pushing the provincial government and all political parties to commit to the plan’s vision and to work with communities to begin its implementation.”

BCNU members are encouraged to get involved in the campaign and raise awareness about this issue with their friends and family.

Visit http://www.cccabc.bc.ca/plan to learn more. update

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CHECK IN

BC seniors’ care

human rights & equity

BCNU bus rolls with BC seniors BCNU Simon Fraser Region members were on hand at this year’s BC Seniors’ Games administering free blood pressure readings and providing athletes and supporters with copies of the BC Health Coalition’s recently-published report on the provincial ombudsperson’s recommendations for improving seniors’ care in BC. This year’s Seniors’ Games were held in Burnaby and saw approximately 3,500 participants aged 55 and over from all over the province.

BCNU’s LGBT caucus met at burnaby office in october From left to right: Christine Nombrado, Kath-Ann Terrett, Ron Francoeur, Cynthia Reid (chair), Kirstin McLaughlin, Anna Fritch, Lynda Anderson, Howard Searle and Rae Wooffindin.

BUILDING STRONG LEADERS

Charting a path to better seniors’ care in BC The findings contained in the recent BC Ombudsperson’s report on seniors’ care reveal that the Ministry of Health is not fulfilling its leadership role in seniors’ care. This may come as no surprise to healthcare workers and families who have seen first-hand how the services and supports that seniors rely on have been eroded in the past decade. As A ROADMAP a result, many seniors SENIOR A summary of the BC Ombu and their loved ones are concerned about getting the care they need.

The absence of stewardship within seniors’ care in BC has led to real challenges and troubling circumstances. Fortunately, the BC Ombudsperson’s recommendations lay out clear, easy-to-implement solutions to address many of them.

The BC government has said it is considering these recommendations, and wants to hear from British Produced by the BC Health Coalition

Columbians about their priorities and ideas for implementation.

The BC Health Coalition’s Roadmap to Better Seniors’ Care in BC outlines the key themes contained in the Ombudspersons report and summarizes the report’s recommendations.

Public healthcare advocates say it is more important than ever for the people of British Columbia to understand the Ombudsperson’s findings and recommendations, and to seize the opportunity to send a clear message to Victoria on the importance of this historic report.

To order copies of this summary to share in your community and your worksite contact info@bchealthcoalition.ca or 604-681-7945.

BCNU’s Aboriginal Leadership Circle held an extraordinary meeting in September to help members prepare for community engagement efforts in the coming year.

The group was pleased to host Dr. Evelyn Voyageur, President of the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada. A member of the Kwa-kwaka-wak Nation, Voyageur shared her experience in advocating for culturally appropriate curricula among schools of nursing and talked about the skills needed to achieve these goals.

“We want to provide ALC members opportunities to engage at the community level,” says BCNU’s Tania Dick, a nurse practitioner from

Alert Bay and member of the Dzawada’enuxw Nation.

“Connecting ALC members with leaders like Voyageur will help the group build the skill set needed to effectively promote issues of concern such as ensuring that Aboriginal nurses are consulted during the establishment of the new First Nations Health Authority scheduled for next June.”

Dick stressed the importance of building and acknowledging partnerships with provincial and national native organizations such as the BC Native Women’s Association, the BC Assembly of First Nations and the Native Women’s Association of Canada in order to achieve aboriginal nurses’ shared goals.

SHARING KNOWLEDGE Dr. Evelyn Voyageur (right) speaks to BCNUs Aboriginal Leadership Circle.

update magazine December 2012

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run for the cure Benefits

BEWARE OF BLUE CROSS CLAIMS DEADLINES

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aria Stuible wants all members to know about the deadlines Pacific Blue Cross imposes on members submitting claims for extended health benefits and dental procedures.

Stuible, a veteran public health nurse with 35 years experience, lost $600 in 2010 when she submitted her Blue Cross claim one month past the company’s deadline.

“My first thought after learning that my claims had been refused was embarrassment,” says Stuible. “But then I thought, this isn’t fair. I’ve been filling these forms out for years without a problem. I didn’t know about the deadline and it wasn’t mentioned on the Blue Cross claim form I submitted.

There was no warning.”

A frustrated Stuible surveyed 16 nurses who work with her at Vancouver’s Pacific Spirit Community Health Centre to learn what they knew about the deadlines. She says only four were aware of the time limit.

And three of those only learned about it after having their own claims denied.

The deadline for successfully submitting your extended

health benefits claim to Pacific Blue Cross is June 30 of the year following the date of your treatment. Dental claims are different - they must be submitted within one year of the procedure taking place.

Stuible says that after numerous discussions with Pacific Blue Cross, including bringing her dispute to Small Claims Court, information about the deadline was eventually posted on their online claim forms.

But, she points out, there is no such announcement on the dental claim forms.

Stuible also encourages nurses to check the Pacific Blue Cross forms provided at their workplace – as employers may still be using be using the old ones.

“I just want every BCNU member to be aware of these deadlines,” says Stuible. “It could save them a lot of money and frustration.”

You can contact Stuible for more information at maria@secrest.ca. update

BCNU members around the province joined tens of thousands of participants in the 2012 Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure throughout BC on September 30th. BCNU was a multi-location sponsor. This event is the largest single-day, volunteer-led event in Canada in support of the breast cancer cause.

BCNU Council’s Run for the Cure liaison Colette Wickstrom ran with BCNU’s enthusiastic Vancouver contingent. “I am proud that so many members took part in this year’s run.

We had a higher rate of participation in 2012 and we hope to keep that going with even more nurses joining us next year,” said Wickstrom. BCNU has participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure since 2007.

Next year’s event will take place on Sunday, October 6, 2012 at locations to be announced. For further information or to register early, visit http://www.runforthecure.com.

Full-time steward selection policy in development The BCNU has struck a committee to develop policy and procedures governing the hiring of full-time stewards.

This ad hoc committee will review the job postings process to ensure that candidate selection continues to be fair and transparent.

The committee has been directed to include the following requirements in the policy: • fair and appropriate weighting of hiring criteria including qualifications, skills, and experience, • hiring decisions based on seniority when other scoring criteria are equal, • consistently constituted interview panels including members of the elected personnel committee, and • means to ensure applicants are aware that hiring decisions can be appealed.

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CHECK IN

BCNU’S MEN IN NURSING CAUCUS SUPPORTS WHITE RIBBON CAMPAIGN

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iolence against women is a serious and ongoing problem that concerns everyone.

Consider sexual assault.

In Vancouver the rate of reported sexual assaults has increased in recent years despite dropping rates of violent crime overall.

Consider domestic violence. On average, every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. Domestic violence officially accounts for 12 percent of all violent crime in Canada, and on any given day more than 3,000 women (along with their 2,500 children) are living in an emergency shelter to escape domestic violence.

The United Nations defines violence against women as, “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”

Ending gender-based violence BCNU’s Men in Nursing Caucus Chair Howard Searle wants to raise awareness about the importance of ending violence against women in any form.

The White Ribbon Campaign was started in 1991 by Canadian activists – including the late Jack Layton – who felt that men have a responsibility to work to end violence against women and must step up their efforts in promoting gender equality in order to challenge the most harmful aspects of masculinity.

“We felt that the White Ribbon Campaign was something that our group could support and help raise awareness among our male and female colleagues,” says Men in Nursing Caucus chair Howard Searle. The caucus began promoting the campaign at its booth during this year’s BCNU convention.

The campaign runs from November 25 (the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women) until December 6, Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Established by an Act of Parliament in 1991, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal – all of whom died because they were women.

“The Men in Nursing Caucus will use the white ribbon on any materials produced by our group in order to support this ending of gender-based violence against not only our nursing sisters, but against women as a whole,” says Searle, noting that the subtle branding of the white ribbon is a reminder of how to behave towards women and raises awareness of ending violence against women in any form. update

FACILITIES BARGAINING Deal provides modest improvements but leaves nursing issues largely unresolved

The Facilities Bargaining Association’s tentative agreement with the Health Employers’ Association of BC contains some modest gains for members of the FBA’s diverse bargaining unit.

But the deal leaves critical nursing issues largely unresolved, demonstrating clearly the need for LPNs to be transferred to the Nurses’ Bargaining Association where they will bargain with other nurses and be able to focus on nurses’ professional concerns.

“LPNs will only be able to resolve their unique nursing issues when they are moved into the NBA and are in a bargaining structure that is not focused on the issues of more than 250 classifications of support workers,” says BCNU president Debra McPherson. “A key priority for BCNU will be to ensure that move happens expeditiously.”

In the meantime BCNU Council has endorsed the newly elected BCNU LPN bargaining committee’s recommendation that members vote to ratify the tentative contract because it does make some progress for members.

The employment stability provided by the FBA contract will allow all LPNs to become involved in BCNU’s campaign to bring all nurses into the NBA.

update magazine December 2012

BURNABY HOSPITAL

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washing (touchless taps & soap dispensers) and well-staffed overflow units to eliminate hallway patients.

“I was impressed with the initiative that our Burnaby Hospital nurses took to ensure that the voices of frontline nurses were heard by the BHCCC. The BCNU members’ suggestions were common sense and compretion, cleanliness, and safe staffing for safe hensive and were well received. It remains to nursing practice,” BCNU member Zarena be seen whether the follow-up development Pash told the BHCCC at a September process for Burnaby Hospital will respect public consultation meeting. Pash is part of the nurses’ and community’s views,” says a group of BCNU activists including Kathy Simon Fraser Chair Liz Ilczaszyn.

Bonitz and Valentina Maliarenko, who have The FHA has announced that it has been pushing for safer staffing levels and implemented a comprehensive infection prevention and control strategy that includes enhanced cleaning, the hiring of additional frontline infection control practitioners and a renewed focus on hand hygiene and infection prevention and control practices.

Media reports recently revealed that members of the governmentappointed BHCCC – which includes Burnaby Liberal MLAs – were communicating with BC Liberal Party staff for what appear to be partisan PRESENTING SOLUTIONS Burnaby Hospital Nurses purposes.

Valentina Maliarenko, Kathy Bonitz, Zarena Pash “This is extremely disappointand Simon Fraser Chair Liz Ilczaszyn hold copies ing,” says BCNU President Debra of a report they submitted to the Burnaby Hospital McPherson.

Community Consultation Committee.

“Nurses have been up front with better cleaning procedures at their worksite. their solutions and their belief that conThe group submitted a report containsultation processes should be genuine and ing a series of recommendations for the non-partisan. Unfortunately, everyone sufhospital that included measures such as fers when government and employers don’t improving sanitation stations for hand work together for better care.” update

NURSES PRESENT SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER CARE

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hen serious C. difficile outbreaks put Burnaby Hospital in the media spotlight this year, BCNU activists were there to advocate publicly for safe patient care, safe nursing workloads and improved sanitation at the facility.

The Fraser Health Authority (FHA) has been struggling to manage the highly contagious C. difficile at the aging hospital.

There have been several much-reported outbreaks – the most recent occurring in late 2011 which forced unit closures for several days.

Doctors at the hospital say that rates of the infection at Burnaby Hospital have ranged between two to three times the provincial and national averages over the last two years, resulting in 473 serious cases of C. difficile from 2009 to mid-2011, with 84 associated deaths.

When the provincial government established the Burnaby Hospital Community Consultation Committee (BHCCC) this summer, nurses working at the facility took the opportunity to raise their concerns and present solutions.

“Our issues of highest concern are sanita-

Team Day Member Educators from across the province gathered on September 14, 2012. Bottom row, left to right: Sara Johl, RIVA; Remy Dhillon, FV; Dian Hystad, SH; Kathy Moore, TNO; Judith Dindayal, NE; Cathy Robinson, SFV; and Andrea Rauh, VM. Middle row: Becy Seet, CM; Candice Desousa, OS; Nicole Searle, NW; and Liane Bruneau, SF. Top row: Ann Bradbury, BCNU staff; Helena Barzilay, EK; and Jill Karleen, SI.

Basic Steward training Workshop participants met September 18-19, 2012 Participants included Alicia Birch, Scott Blair, Penny Blair, Anastasia Brown, Celia Chen, Maritess Danganan, Jenny Danskin, Leanna Galbraith, Zoe Jewell, Louise Laroche, Barbara Leach, Amber Lysak, Maren McLean, Beverly Melvin, Anna Pawlak, Laurie Schmidt and Danielle Semple.

12 Influenza Vaccine Resources

SHOT IN THE DARK

Nurses oppose coercive flu shot policy Scientific evidence challenges the credibility of the studies used to justify it

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lu season. It’s a time of year when hospitals and healthcare workers are often pushed to their limits. And in a stretched healthcare system that’s struggling to provide safe patient care at the best of times, no one is more aware than nurses about the challenging working conditions that the winter flu season inevitably brings.

But this flu season has been especially challenging for nurses: Without warning, health employers across the province announced in August that they would be imposing a policy requiring that “all health care workers who come into contact with patients at publicly funded health care facilities or in the community, including at long-term care facilities, will need to get the influenza vaccine, or wear a mask during the flu season. The new policy applies to all healthcare workers including health authority staff, physicians and residents, volunteers, students, contractors and vendors who come into contact with patients.”

For many nurses, the announcement came as a shock. This was the first time any health jurisdiction in Canada had laid down a blanket edict.

All vaccination programs have previously relied on healthcare workers’ voluntary compliance – partly in recognition of workers’ concerns about the level of protection conferred by seasonal flu vaccines and their potential side-effects.

When the program was voluntary BCNU always encouraged members to get the shot.

To make matters worse, the policy requires

workers to wear a sticker indicating they’ve been vaccinated and to help enforce the policy by reporting co-workers who do not comply with it.

In response, BCNU filed a grievance and began speaking out publicly against the policy.

The union demanded employers withdraw the policy in light of scientific reviews questioning it. It started to become clear that BC health employers had not done their homework.

A letter in the Vancouver Sun from Dr. Tom Jefferson of the UK-based Cochrane Collaboration effectively removed all credibility behind the rationales being put forward by provincial health officer Perry Kendall and others.

Speaking to the coercive punitive aspects of the policy, Jefferson wrote: “It is not my place to judge the policies underway in British Columbia, but coercion and forcing public ridicule on human beings (for example by forcing them to wear distinctive badges or clothing) is usually the practice of tyrants.”

Jefferson also took exception to Kendall’s mischaracterization of the Cochrane Collaboration’s findings to bolster his own position.

The Cochrane Collaboration – an international network of thousands of scientists and researchers from more than 100 countries – earlier wrote that “there is no credible evidence that vaccination of healthy people under the age of 60, who are health care workers caring for the elderly, affects influenza complications in those cared for.”1

Vaccination of Health Care Workers for Influenza: Promote Safety Culture, Not Coercion Canadian Journal of Public Health, March/April 2010; http:// ow.ly/fF6mv Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who work with the elderly Thomas RE, Jefferson T, Lasserson TJ.Published Online: September 8, 2010; http:// ow.ly/fF6bW The Compelling Need for Game-Changing Influenza Vaccines Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, 2012; http:// ow.ly/fF6qs Influenza: Evidence From Cochrane Reviews The Cochrane Library, 2012; http://ow.ly/ fF6xI Efficacy and Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccines in Elderly People: a Systematic Review Jefferson T, Rivetti D, Rivetti A, Rudin M, Di Pietrantonj C, Demicheli V. (2006); http:// ow.ly/fF6At

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update magazine December 2012

A systematic Cochrane review of flu vaccine studies found “(pharmaceutical) industry-funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size.”

“Nurses always strive to conduct ourselves in ways that are based on evidence,” says BCNU president Debra McPherson. “In light of the latest evidence presented by what is a very credible scientific organization untainted by drug company influence, it’s time for health employers to re-examine their policy and back off on their ill-advised attempts to coerce nurses and other healthcare workers to get the flu shot.

“The decision on whether to get a flu shot should be a matter of individual choice, not something that can bring shame and humiliation in the workplace or financial penalties and other disciplinary measures,” she says. “For employers to persist in this ill-advised policy in the wake of serious questions about the credibility of the science behind it would be unconscionable.”

Dr. Jefferson’s letter follows on the heels of research released in October from the Centre For Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.

In The Compelling Need for GameChanging Influenza Vaccines, the organization’s researchers wrote that policies aimed at expanding vaccination rates by mandating it for healthcare workers are being made without compelling and scientifically sound research to support them.

More recently a CBC News investigation revealed that claims about the number of people who die annually from the flu are grossly exaggerated.

Despite the growing evidence indicating the ineffectiveness of seasonal flu vaccines, Kendall has still refused to acknowledge nurses concerns and plans to maintain the policy. The “vaccination required” period usually runs from the end of November until the end of March but may vary with seasonal epidemiology. update

Health & Safety in the workplace

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Protecti The popular Order Personal 1 Order ON laminated lanyard card 3 FF O * ne gie r Orde Hand Hy that outlines the steps 1 2 ON 3 2 in “donning and doffne * gie Hy n w nd Go Ha 1 2 ing” personal protective 2 5 equipment (PPE) on Gown spirator Mask / Re 2 3 one side and how to do a 5 4 Eye / Face spirator Mask / Re point-of-care risk assessn Protectio 3 4 4 ment (PCRA) on the other 1 Eye / Face n Gloves Protectio has been revised to reflect 4 5 1 6 current best practices. The ene * Gloves Hand Hygi 5 changes relate only to the rub 6 or alcoholnd washing ene * d PPE side. giene: ha Hand Hygi e Thieu an * Hand Hy an, Michell Sh g lin this card. en Kamani, W iginally developed The cards were originally ohol-rub ks to Aleya o or alc an wh th s or r nt ing Ou de nd wash g, the stu d giene: ha Tracy Wen e Thieu an * Hand Hy developed by a group of UBC an, Michell rd.

Wenling Sh ed this ca ya Kamani, o originally develop Ale to ks nursing students who worked OuTrracthyanWeng, the students wh with BCNU in 2010 to tackle PE) ipment (P ctive Equ te the issue of educating student ro P l a n Perso Order t (PPE) be of use to their peers, yard cards nwould nurses around occupational Equipme ve OFF cti te ro but once BCNU produced r cards P e l rd a n O o the rs health and safety, particularly with regard Pe Order ON 3 and started circulating them, they wereHygiene * to air-borne pathogens in the wake of er OFF Ord Hand 1 recognized as a useful product for working H1N1.

N O 3 2 * nurses Students Aleya Kamani, Wenling Shan, nd Hygienein general. With great credit to the Gown Ha 1 2 students, about 1000 cards have been disMichelle Thieu and Tracy Weng surveyed 2 5 tor Gown in the Fraser Health Authority / Respira tributed their cohorts to determine the level of 2 Maskafter 3 5 a clinicaliratonurse educator requested them.e / Face knowledge and found gaps in understand4 r Ey sp Mask / Re n The revised card lists the PPE Protectio ing regarding participants’ own safety 3 4 to use and 4 1 the Eysequence of “donning and doffing” in Gloves when it came to dealing with respiratory e / Face n Protectio 4 5 keeping with current national standards and infections.

1 6 best practices.

This includes donning gowns ene * They subsequently designed educational Gloves Hand Hygi 5 prior to putting on masks or respirators, and ing or alcohol-rub tools including the lanyard cards and a 6 nd wash ene * giene: ha Hand Hygi using hair and shoe covers. e Thie no longer video which they posted on YouTube. * Hand Hy an, Michell this enling Sh Kamani, W iginally developed ya b ru Ale olto alcohdistributing the anks or be r thcards BCNU will to nts who or “There is so much to remember when ing Ou de sh stu e wa : hand d Weng, th ne an y gie ac ieu Tr Hy Th e * Hand an, Michell card. by request, at health authority it comes to making risk assessments,” Wenling Sh devecontacts loped this mani, to Aleya Ka originally Our thanks the students who g, says Thieu. “So it’s important to have Tracy Wen BCNU OH&S events and to members who visit the BCNU campaign bus during 2013 educational tools that not only teach but stops. For more information, please contact reinforce.” your worksite steward. update The students originally expected the lan-

PPE

PPE

PPE

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Nursing Hearts And Minds Bcnu’s Sixth Annual Nursing Practice Conference highlights mental health issues

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CNU’s sixth annual nursing practice conference highlighted many of the problems that nurses and patients must overcome when dealing with mental health issues.

Members from across BC attended Finding the Centre: Nursing Hearts and Minds, a two-day conference held last May in Richmond. For many of the participants it was the first BCNU conference they had attended.

“For far too many nurses the workplace is proving to be an obstacle to the achievement and cultivation of mental

them ‘I have cancer’ than it is to say ‘I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.’”

The event’s first speaker was Dr. Caroline Tait from the University of Saskatchewan.

She is a former coordinator of the National Network for Aboriginal Mental Health Research and past vice-chair of the Aboriginal Women’s Health and Healing Research Group.

Tait’s presentation – “Social Determinants of Mental Health: Experiences of Aboriginal, Immigrant and Refugee Women” – focussed on the often inhumane treatment First Nations peoples have experienced in general and in

Advocating for mentally healthy workplaces Dr. Albert Wu, director of the Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research at Johns Hopkins University and Dr. Caroline Tait from the University of Saskatchewan.

historic struggles First Nations peoples have faced in the past so they can understand the situation today. She urged participants to watch several documentaries, including Dancing Around the Table and Broken Promises, as well as music by Aboriginal rapper Eekwol.

Tait also talked about the deplorable state of child welfare in Canada today. “I know of one child who has been moved to

“

today it is easier to turn to your colleague at work and tell them ‘I have cancer’ than it is to say ‘I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.’

Debra McPherson, BCNU President

health,” BCNU President Debra McPherson said in her opening remarks.

“This constitutes an injustice not only to our nurses and other healthcare professionals – but also to our patients and our communities. Because even today it is easier to turn to your colleague at work and tell

healthcare in particular.

“It’s not good enough to simply put people through drug and alcohol treatment centres,” said Tait. “We must ensure they have the follow-up care and support they need when they return to their communities.”

Tait would like to see Canadians learn more about the

”

70 different homes in her life.

Why isn’t that considered child abuse?”

UBC professor Dr. Harry Karlinsky focussed on how mental health issues are dealt with in movies. His presentation “Psychiatry and Movies: A case study on Lars and the Real Girl” included trailers from several

landmark films that touched on the subject of mental health, such as Snake Pit and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

“In general,” said Karlinsky, “Hollywood and mental health has generated numerous stereotypes and inaccurate depictions of mental health. Movies add to the mental illness stigma.”

Mental health educator and playwright Victoria Maxwell delivered a powerful and often-hilarious one-woman performance at the end of the conference’s first day. Her show, Crazy for Life, is a true-life story about accepting and living with a psychiatric disorder.

She used humour to openly discuss many of her own experiences in and out of mental health institutions. “I call the show the escapades of a bipolar princess,” said Maxwell, who took the audience “’round the bend, and back again, from meditation groups to hospital psych wards, from black depressions to manic highs and psychedelic psychoses.”

She also gave kudos to nurses and other mental health staff for helping to save her life. “I wouldn’t be here today if it

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wasn’t for a nurse I met on a psychiatric ward.”

Dr. Geertje Boschma, an associate professor at the UBC School of Nursing, gave a presentation entitled “Community Mental Health Services in Historical Perspective: Voices from Professionals and Consumers.”

Boschma focused on the development of community mental health services in New Westminster over the past 50 years. She described how, during that period, patients have been moved out of large institutions like Riverview and into smaller homes, drop-in centres and independent living sites.

“We need to listen to the voices of people who have experienced mental illness first-hand,” said Boschma.

Other speakers at the two-day conference included UBC School of Nursing professor Dr. Patricia Rodney and Dr. Albert Wu, director of the Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research at Johns Hopkins University.

Rodney, a frequent speaker at BCNU events and a former union steward, delivered a thoughtful presentation entitled “Moral Climate Action,” that focused on end-of-life decision making and the moral climate of healthcare delivery.

Wu’s presentation, “The Second Victim,” delved into how nurses and physicians are negatively affected by the repercussions of medical errors.

Money raised by BCNU members through 50/50 draws at the event was donated to The Vivian Transitional Housing Project for Women, which provides supportive housing for atrisk, chronically homeless women.

“This nursing practice conference will help our union and our members continue to be strong advocates for mentally healthy workplaces,” said McPherson, “workplaces that are genuinely supportive of the vital work that nurses engage in on a daily basis.” update

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BCNU sponsors research challenge prize at Providence Health Care for second year tion in research methods workshops, taught either

by Dr. Lynda Balveaves or Dr. Pam Ratner, both of the UBC School of Nursing. Teams then worked with their mentors to write a proposal for how they would answer their practice-based research question.

On June 27, 13 teams presented their project outlines and answered questions. After consideration by an adjudication panel, 11 teams were awarded prizes ranging from $2,000 to $4,000.

BCNU members Dave budding researchers St Paul’s nurses Afia Min and Morrison and Afia Min are Dave Morrison with Vancouver Metro Regional Chair, Colette Wickstrom (left). part of a funded project, Evaluation of an intervenFor the second year running, tion to enhance in-centre hemodialysis nurses and allied health staff at Providence patient’s self-care ability. “It’s about getting nurses back to teaching and health Health Care are participating in smallpromotion and patients being heard,” scale, mentored research projects, with says Morrison. “We want to promote indeBCNU sponsoring a $4,000 prize. pendence and allow them to be involved Inspired by University Health Network in Toronto, where the Research Challenge in their care to the best of their abilities.”

Adds Min, “One of the good things is that has been ongoing for over five years, all staff on the unit are involved.”

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority The PHC research initiative would nursing research facilitator Aggie Black not have become a reality without the worked to introduce the initiative at PHC ongoing leadership of Aggie Black, one last year. It proved to be such a success of six health authority nursing research that it is being repeated again. The projfacilitators funded through the Nursing ect gives nurses and others a chance to learn about research methods and imple- Research Initiative. The NRI, managed by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health ment projects that will make a difference Research, was made possible through to them and their patients.

Following a request for Letters of Intent, union-employer-government policy discussions leading up to 2006 Provincial 15 teams were selected for participation, Collective Agreement bargaining, when including ten led by nurses and five led by $8 million was allocated to develop BC allied health workers. All teams were nursing research capacity. update assigned a mentor, followed by participa-

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LPNs succeed in their campaign to unite nurses at BCNU BCNU welcomes health authority-employed LPNs to the nurses’ union

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haron Braiden waited patiently for results from the LPN vote to roll in. It was October 5th and Braiden was on holiday in her hometown of Erin, Ontario. This was the day the BC Labour Relations Board was finally going to count the ballots from LPNs’ historic representational vote.

The fact that the vote count was happening this day was constantly in her thoughts because for eight years she had worked on the campaign to bring LPNs into BCNU. Braiden felt nervous. But she was also confident LPNs understood the message that by voting for BCNU they would have a better future as members of a professional nurses’ union.

At 9:00 pm her cell phone beeped – it was a message from LPN organizer Todd Decker. The results were in, and LPNs in all six health authorities had voted decisively to join BCNU. “As soon as I read Todd’s text I let out a huge ‘whoop’ and did a happy dance in my brother’s living room”, says Braiden. “My family were all grinning because they knew the process took many years and hundreds of nurses put thousands of hours into getting this successful result.”

Braiden, Annette Fleming and Belinda Anderson were the three trailblazing LPNs who started work on moving LPNs to BCNU in 2004. After contract setbacks and poor representation in their previous unions, they started talking to people about ways to move LPNs to the BC Nurses’ Union.

“After meeting with labour lawyers our task looked almost impossible,” says Braiden. “But we kept at it because we knew LPNs really wanted to join RNs and RPNs in a shared union.”

Since 2004, the number of people joining the campaign to Happy Day LPN Sharon Braiden

unite nurses grew steadily until hundreds of activists at most hospitals across the province were part of the initiative to bring all nurses into one powerful union.

Professional representation and quality services drew LPNs to BCNU

Braiden says that one of the key reasons LPNs were drawn to BCNU is the strong professional services the nurses’ union provides to members.

“In our previous unions we lacked much of the professional advocacy that RNs and RPNs have always enjoyed,” says Braiden.

“Stewards in our previous unions often tried very hard to represent us, and I’m grateful for that,” says Braiden. “But it’s tough for non-nurse stewards to represent LPNs about complex practice issues when they simply don’t have the nursing background to do so.”

It was those representational issues and a desire for quality educational and professional practice services that drew LPNs to the nurses’ union.

Many of BCNU’s services are customized for nurses, and those services were key components of LPNs’ campaign to convince their co-workers that BCNU is the natural home for all classifications of nurses.

“LPNs voted to join BCNU because we want professional representation. But we also have a lot to contribute to building a stronger nurses’ union with our RN and RPN colleagues,” says Braiden.

Improving care and building bargaining power

Bringing LPNs into BCNU will strengthen the union’s ability to advocate for better healthcare.

Initially, 7,200 hospitalbased LPNs joined

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the union this October. When LPNs employed by healthcare affiliates also vote to join BCNU, it’s expected almost 10,000 LPNs will be in the nurses’ union by next spring.

Over the long term, bringing all nurses into one strong organization will build the union’s capacity to improve practice conditions and negotiate better contracts. And better practice conditions for nurses means better healthcare for British Columbians.

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More than 7,200 health authority-employed LPNs move to BCNU

Working hard and not giving up on unity

Braiden clearly remembers the tentative first steps of the LPN movement almost eight years ago. During one of their initial discussions they met with a Victoriabased labour lawyer who had helped other healthcare employees change unions.

“I clearly remember our lawyer’s words during our first meeting with him in 2006,” says Braiden. “He told us that BC healthcare labour legislation is complex and he wasn’t optimistic we’d ever be successful in moving LPNs to BCNU. He said if we were successful we’d forever change the face of BC labour.”

Braiden, Anderson and Fleming knew they were advancing an idea that was popular with LPNs. Bringing all nurses into the same union makes sense and advances common sense solutions to improve BC healthcare. And it adds to the list of nurses’ unions in other provinces that represent RNs and LPNs alike.

“Our initial discussion with the labour lawyer could have caused us to give up,” says Braiden. “But we kept on going until our vision for a united nursing profession took hold with LPNs. Our next step is to bring affiliate LPNs into BCNU then move LPNs into the Nurses’ Bargaining Association.”

“I’ll be retiring soon,” says Braiden.

“My desire in the campaign is for younger LPNs to have a great career as BCNU members.

“And I feel totally comfortable now moving into the sunset because so many great nurse activists have come forward in the campaign and they’re ready to move our profession forward at BCNU.” update

LPNs start participating in their new union BCNU President Debra McPherson welcomes the inaugural group of LPN stewards at a November training session. Back from left: Sandra Dessau, Carolynn Taylor, Rannoch Campbell, Barbara Taylor, Kris Vanlambalgen, BCNU President Debra McPherson, Jim Fishley, Barbara Holm, Kerry Matheson, David MacVicar and Mike Brodie.

Front from left: Louise Weightman, Marivic Dinisio, Sherri Ng and Brenda Childs.

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n October 11, 2012 the BC Labour Relations Board certified BCNU as the new union for more than 7,200 hospitalbased LPNs. One of BCNU’s first commitments to LPNs was to give them a voice in the governance of their new union. Immediately after the vote results were announced on October 5, BCNU opened nominations for six positions to the LPN Bargaining Committee and BCNU Council.

A record 36 members were nominated – a large response and clear indication of LPNs’ enthusiasm to a play a significant role in their new union. Elections were held November 19-21 and the six successful candidates are listed on page 19.

BCNU Council welcomes LPNs and encourages participation

Now that LPNs are members of a professional nurses’ union, BCNU Council extends a warm welcome to new members and encourages them to become familiar with BCNU services.

There are key differences between BCNU and LPNs’ previous unions because the nurses’ union has developed programs that are tailored specifically to nurses.

Learning, discovering and networking One of the key differences LPNs will discover about their new union is BCNU’s focus on building a professional community through membership meetings and educationals.

Many BCNU services are delivered through our regional structure, so learning which region your worksite is in will help you access our services.

The regional map is online at BCNU.org > About BCNU > click BCNU Regions.

There are two excellent meetings that all new members should attend.

The first is your regional meeting which is a full day of discussion, networking and learning. You will meet your regional executive, network with other nurses and learn

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Left: Vice President Christine Sorensen welcomes Vernon LPN Rannoch Campbell.

Below: New BCNU LPN members Marivic Dinisio and Sherri Ng.

Report card on BCNU’s Pledge to LPNs Completed

P LPNs will receive full rights at BCNU LPNs now have all BCNU constitutional rights and privileges

P LPNs will have a voice on Council Six representatives were just elected to the LPN Bargaining Committee/BCNU Council

P LPNs will receive steward continuity Current stewards have been invited to join the BCNU steward team.

P LPNs will receive paid education LPNs can now register for BCNU regional educationals

P LPNs will have licensing support The LEAP Program is available to help LPNs with practice challenges*

P Your current pension, benefits and seniority were transferred to BCNU

P Your union dues will go down to 2% of basic pay with zero dues on overtime

P You have access to BCNU’s strike fund In progress £ You will receive career development 15% of LPN dues will build an education fund £ LPNs are invited to BCNU caucuses £ LPNs, RNs and RPNs will work together All nurses will be equal partners on teams for quality patient care. £ We will prepare for collective bargaining BCNU will start work to move LPNs into the NBA £ BCNU will refuse pay cuts and contract rollbacks

Future • Fast-tracked settlements We will approach employers to fast track all outstanding grievances.* • LPNs can change their minds After BCNU negotiates two collective agreements, LPNs are free to leave BCNU through a provincewide referendum.* *See the full text of the Pledge for details

about healthcare and workplace issues.

The second key meeting to attend is the BUS Seminar (Building Union Strength). BUS is a full day introduction to BCNU and the labour movement where members have the opportunity to explore issues such as the connection between the social determinants of health and social justice.

For both meetings, members receive the day off with pay so it’s an excellent opportunity to Please join our forum send network andopen learn moreand about your editor@bcnu.org theletters manyto:opportunities BCNU offers to members.

To apply to attend visit the calendar at bcnu.org.

Supporting nurses’ professional practices is a key BCNU priority

Improving practice conditions is a key BCNU priority that we advance through collective bargaining and programs that support professional practice issues.

In the last round of NBA bargaining BCNU made significant progress towards improving practice conditions through

the hiring of more nurses, guaranteeing the replacement of nurses on leave and streamlining the PRF process.

BCNU’s Policy and Professional Advocacy Department exists to support nurses’ professional practice.

And nurses who need support with licensing issues can contact their BCNU steward or call the provincial office and ask for the LEAP (Licensing Education Advocacy Practice) Program.

Participate, learn and get involved

Moving into a new organization can be both exciting and confusing. BCNU Council encourages our new members to attend their regional meetings and the BUS course.

Both are great ways to build new relationships and learn more about what BCNU offers members. update

update magazine December 2012

Postcard Campaign underway to bring LPNs to the Nurses’ Bargaining Association A single contract for all nurses will bring benefits to both nurses and employers BCNU is committed to ensuring that the 7,200 Licensed Practical Nurses who are now members of our union get the right to bargain as nurses within the Nurses’ Bargaining Association. New LPN members should be covered by the same provincial contract as other nurses and to

benefit from its provisions.

The priority now is to work with the provincial government to ensure that LPNs are brought into the NBA as soon as possible. A postcard mail-in campaign calling on the government to make the required legislative changes is the first step in this process.

When LPNs are transferred to the NBA, they will negotiate together with other nurses covered by the provincial contract. And the benefits could be substantial.

For many years LPNs’ previous unions were opposed to their transfer from the Facilities Bargaining Association into the NBA. As a result, FBA LPNs endured repeated contract rollbacks. BCNU is committed to end-

ing these unfair rollbacks by bringing LPNs onto the nurses’ bargaining team where contract concessions are not accepted.

In the NBA, LPNs’ PRF language can be strengthened and their training and workplace support can be improved – and BCNU will expect LPNs to be paid according to their expanding workplace responsibilities.

Having RNs, RPNs and LPNs in one bargaining association benefits all stakeholders. For nurses, it means being better positioned to address workplace issues in collaborative ways.

For employers, it means only having to administer one set of contract processes for all nurses. That could mean administering only one set of rules for things like employee call-ins, staff scheduling and resolving grievances and professional practice issues.

In the NBA, all changes to nurses’ terms of employment will be negotiated by their elected bargaining committee, and only that committee can recommend the acceptance of a new contract to members.

All BCNU members are encouraged to sign a copy of the post card petition and mail it to the government.

The postcard is pre-paid and can be dropped in any mailbox.

Members who want to circulate the postcard at their worksites can request up to 25 copies by emailing their contact information to bcnucommunications@bcnu.org. update

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LPN representatives elected to Bargaining committee and council Elections for LPN positions on Bargaining Committee and Council were held November 19 to 21. LPNs directly employed in the five regional health authorities and Providence Health Care cast their votes for candidates to represent their regions.

The BCNU Nominations Committee is pleased to welcome the successful candidates (listed below).

The election was part of BC Nurses' Union’s pledge to open nominations for LPN Bargaining Committee/Council Representatives after LPN’s successful campaign to join the BCNU. As BCNU members, LPNs will exercise full rights to participate in elections for BCNU's provincial executive, regional positions and steward elections

Jonathan Karmazinuk, FHA

Steven Roth, Providence

Janet Elizabeth Van Doorn, IHA

Marlene Goertzen, VCHA

Louise Weightman, NHA

Barry Phillips, VIHA

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Keeping the Promise

RN Gloria June Shackley, RN Julie Brandly and RN Sara Johl.

Holding employers to their commitments Vigilance and involvement of elected leaders and members in the worksite will be critical to ensuring the new NBA agreement makes a positive difference for nurses and patients.

a

update magazine December 2012

An overwhelming majority of nurses voted to ratify the new NBA provincial contract, giving us a unique opportunity to make a positive difference for our working lives and for our patients.

The contract provides some critical new tools to improve our workloads and our ability to provide quality care. Now it’s time to start using those tools and work to ensure our employers and the provincial government keep the promise they made at the bargaining table for safe patient care through safe staffing. It’s crucial we hold the employers to their commitments.

In the workplace, the contract recognizes and respects nurses’ ability to determine what’s best for the patients who are receiving care on our units and from our programs, while limiting managers’ rights to make decisions on their own.

For the union, the contract provides unprecedented access to information about staffing levels and nursing hours which the union can use to support members in the workplace.

There are specific commitments to maintain existing nursing hours and to increase nursing hours well above that baseline.

To make these contract provisions a reality it will be critical to be vigilant, be assertive, and be prepared to file grievances if the employer is not following the contract.

Nurses on leave will be replaced

For the first time ever, employers will be required to provide back-fill whenever acute and long-term care nurses are off from a scheduled shift, no matter what the reason. For longer term leaves like vacation or maternity, nurses will be replaced and the employer will make all reasonable efforts to use regular relief/float positions or, in the case of long-term disability or maternity leave, create temporary positions. For sick

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calls, the contract requires nurses to be replaced, even if the employer has to pay overtime to do this. The only time more nurses won’t be called in is when the nurse in charge and the manager jointly agree that patient care needs don’t require it.

The new contract language on patient care needs is notable: “‘Patient care needs’ includes, but is not limited to, an assessment of number of patients, patient acuity, anticipated rate of patient turn-over, patient dependency and staff skill mix.” Additional nurses will be called in using casuals, regular part-time, float pools, redeployment of other nurses if circumstances permit, or regular full-time.”

No more will employers be able to impose such policies as “no replacement for the first sick call” or “no replacement if overtime pay is required.

Nurses will be called in for overcapacity and hallway care

The new contract requires employers to call in more nurses when patient demand exceeds the normal capacity of an acute or long-term care facility or unit to meet patient care needs. Again, patient care needs will be determined jointly by the manager and the nurse in charge of the unit in question.

The language is clear and it’s enforceable through the grievance procedure. To help nurses prepare for this responsibility, training sessions will be developed jointly by the union and employers. Any nurse who works in-charge or who may be called on to perform the in-charge role in the future should access the training.

Replacement in the community

Also for the first time ever, the new contract requires employers to replace nurses in the community for at least their first two weeks of vacation.

Baseline staffing information

For BCNU elected leaders and staff the new contract also means busy times ahead.

By March 31 every year the employer will provide the union with copies of the baseline staffing levels, the regular FTEs and total casual hours for all units/wards/ programs. This is a tremendous amount of information for the union to receive and process. But it will be critical in identifying where more staff is needed and using the data to achieve it.

Maintenance of straight-time paid nursing hours

Under the contract HEABC must give the Nurses’ Bargaining Association the total number of straight-time paid hours of nurses in the health sector for each of 2012, 2013,1014 and 2015 by July the following year.

The contract says the total number of straight-time paid hours of nurses in the health sector will be no less than the number in 2012.

HEABC will also give the NBA the number of FTEs broken down by full-time, part-time, and casual and the number of overtime hours of health sector nurses between 2012 and 2015.

Regularization of hours

Overtime hours, hours worked by casual employees, hours worked by part-time employees above their normal FTE and hours worked by agency nurses will be jointly reviewed every six months and, wherever possible, where the hours are consistent and recurring, will be converted into or added to regular positions.

Additional nurse FTEs

A cornerstone of the agreement is an employer commitment to add a specific number of additional nursing hours equivalent to a specific number of new nurse FTEs. The total number of straight-time hours of RNs/RPNs in the health sector will be increased from the December 31, 2012 hours by at least 4,159,687.5 straight time paid hours (equivalent to 2,125 FTEs) by March 31, 2016. The increases will be distributed relatively evenly over the period,

although the increases in the first year may be less.

Most of these FTEs will be regular positions throughout the healthcare system.

This ability to negotiate new staffing numbers is unprecedented. And the new nursing hours will be in addition to the nursing hours prevailing at the end of 2012. So the new nurse FTEs will be over and above the numbers required to make up for nurses who quit or retire.

Increased work week

The new contract contains significant monetary improvements including a three percent wage increase next year. To achieve the gains BCNU agreed to an increase in the work week to 37.5 hours from 36. This agreement was made in response to the government’s “cooperative gains mandate” where employers only agreed to contract gains if the costs were covered through savings and productivity improvements.

But employers made specific commitments about how the change will be implemented. Members will have to be vigilant to ensure employers keep this promise.

Employers agreed the increased work week will not result in any layoffs of nurses and will be done in a manner that minimizes the impact on individual nurses’ employment and security. The parties committed to work together to ensure a smooth transition as a result of changes to rotations due to the increased hours of work.

The employer agreed to consider regularization of casual and overtime hours including creating built-in vacation relief or float positions, use of current vacancies to maintain current part-time employees’ hours of work, offer of job shares and other options as mutually agreed.

The union will be busy overseeing and helping to administer these provisions.

In most cases the vigilance and involvement of members in the worksites, closely coordinated and communicated to elected leaders and staff, will be critical to ensuring the agreement makes a positive difference for nurses and patients. update

update magazine December 2012

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Q&A

NEW NBA PROVINCIAL COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

There are lots of important changes contained in the new NBA provincial collective agreement. You’ll be learning more in the coming weeks and months when talking with your stewards. Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions are here.

Increased work week Q: How will my rotation change?

A: The exact details of whether and how

rotations might change won’t be clear until the union sits down with the employer and negotiates them. What’s likely is that nurses currently working a 7.2-hour day will move to a 7.5-hour day, with no change in their rotation.

Nurses currently working 7.5-hour days or extended work days may be required to work additional shifts to make up the extra hours.

Q: I currently work shifts greater than 7.2 hours. Does this mean I will work extra shifts in the year?

A: With the inclusion of the new Family

Day Statutory Holiday this means you will work about 70 hours more per year.

Q: What’s the impact on nurses working part-time?

A: The details have to be worked out. Part-

timers may maintain their hours of work, which would reduce their FTE slightly (For example, under the 36-hour work week 18 hours of work equals a .5 FTE; under a 37.5-hour work week 18 hours would equal a .48 FTE.). Part-timers may have their hours of work increased to maintain their FTE. (For example, under a 36-hour work week a .4 FTE would work 14.4 hours;

under a 37.5-hour work week a .4 FTE would work 15 hours.)

The impact of changes to regular part-time hours will be minimized as much as possible through absorbing vacant lines/shifts into the new rotation, the creation of regular relief positions, and the use of job shares.

Q: I’m a part-timer working a .4 position (14.4 hours per week – the minimum FTE allowed for regular part-time). If I keep my same hours under the 37.5-hour week, won’t that reduce my FTE to less than .4 and put my part-time status and benefits in jeopardy?

A: The union negotiated a provision in this

new contract whereby part-timers who fall below a .4 under the 37.5-hour week are deemed to have part-time status and will maintain all benefits associated with that status.

Q: Aren’t the new nursing hours promised by the government just coming from current nurses working longer with the move to the 37.5-hour week?

A: No. None of the new 2,125 nurse FTEs

are part of the move to the 37.5-hour week.

These positions will be added over and above the extra nursing hours that will result from the move to the 37.5-hour week.

Q: How do our hours compare to other provinces?

A: Nurses in most other provinces work

at least a 37.5-hour week. Alberta has a 36.81-hour week while it’s 37.3 hours in Saskatchewan’s new contract.

JOB SECURITY

Q: How does this contract improve my job security?

A: There are more opportunities for mem-

bers when they’re displaced. For the first time, employers will be required to train a displaced nurse to fill an unfilled vacancy, the same way as they would train anybody else for that position. There’s a minimum number of nursing hours province-wide.

Employers agree they won’t reduce that number but will add more than four million additional nursing hours over the next four years (roughly equal to 2,125 FTEs.) Health authority-wide seniority enhances the value of your seniority by increasing your options for moving to new positions.

There are more opportunities for

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nurses displaced at affiliates (not directly owned and operated by health authorities or Providence Health Care).

Displaced employees are no longer restricted to bumping employees with less than seven years seniority.

There’s a dispute resolution and binding arbitration process if the employer says a member isn’t qualified for a vacancy or training opportunity. Until the dispute is resolved the member continues to be employed in nursing with the same wages and FTE.

Better Benefits

New joint union-employer committee to explore options for affordable and sustainable benefit plans

Q: I’ve been displaced from my job in long-term care.

How does the new contract help?

A: If you have a job anywhere in

the health sector, whether working directly for a health authority or an affiliate employer, and have exhausted your recall and layoff rights under the contract, you’ll get access to placement in external health authority vacancies and, if you need it, appropriate orientation and education to practice safely in acute care or the community. The old language gave this right only to employees within the geographic region of the health authority.

Q: Who will pay for my education for the new role?

A: New language commits the

employer and union to jointly develop guidelines to maximize opportunities for laid off nurses through orientation and/or education, with access to funding through the Training/Education Partnership.

For more Qs and As about the new contract go to http:// tinyurl.com/dyr4lnk. update

TIME TO GET SMART WITH THE MONEY WE ARE SPENDING ON HEALTH BENEFITS Canada is the world’s third most expensive country for brand-name drugs. The cost of drugs has risen by more than 10 percent each year since 1985, and represents a major element in the increase of total health expenditures. New and expensive drugs have spurred the need to develop drug pricing strategies and options for drug cost management that could reduce pressure on other areas of benefits and compensation packages.

A

ccess to comprehensive extended healthcare benefits is one of the most important advantages of union membership. Benefits packages are a hard fought entitlement and the Nurses’ Bargaining Association has one of the best in Canadian healthcare.

BCNU’s is the only nurses’ collective agreement where the employer pays 100 percent of benefit costs. And unlike most benefits plans, ours includes dual dental, orthotics, contraceptives and psychologist services.

Unfortunately, the rising cost of extended healthcare benefits is making it harder than ever to negotiate and protect the benefit plan our members have come to rely on. Private payment for health services not covered by Medicare, whether through employer-sponsored benefit plans or through individuals paying out-ofpocket, is by far and away the largest single driver of healthcare spending in Canada – and

it’s a trend that will likely continue.

Drug spending provides the starkest example: Canada spent $25.1 billion on prescription drugs in 2008. The cost of drugs has risen by more than 10 percent each year since 1985, and represents a major element in the increase of total health expenditures. Today, Canada is the world’s third most expensive country for brandname drugs. Many now argue that the cost of artificially high prices for new brand-name drugs far exceeds any benefits.

F

or BCNU negotiators, it came as no surprise when the Health Employers’ Association of BC proposed that nurses begin sharing the costs of their benefits package. This bargaining proposal would have seen nurses paying 25 percent of premiums. Annual benefit costs – from dental to drugs and long-term disability – form a rising share of total compensation. Last year they totalled $6294

update magazine December 2012

dollars per nurse (not including MSP). The message from HEABC and other employers is that if costs cannot be contained, the longterm sustainability of employer-sponsored benefit programs will be in jeopardy.

BCNU has acknowledged that rising benefits costs are a serious issue – but we reject the idea of nurses paying any share of the total costs of funding our benefits plan.

We believe that unions and employers have a responsibility to explore opportunities to make benefit plans more cost-effective without sacrificing overall value to members.

Under the new NBA Provincial Collective Agreement, BCNU and HEABC have agreed to establish a Joint Benefit Review Committee that will be tasked with identifying cost-containment options to ensure the long-term sustainability of our benefits. The JBRC will provide parties with recommendations by December 31, 2013.

The JBRC is an opportunity for BCNU to be directly involved in decisions regarding any reorganization of our benefit plan. The committee will review current cost drivers, delivery models and practices in other jurisdictions to see where we can achieve efficiencies.

High on the committee’s agenda is the growing cost of prescription drugs. New and expensive drugs in particular have spurred a need to develop drug pricing strategies and consider options for drug cost management that could ultimately reduce pressure on other areas of our benefits and compensation package.

There are many current practices that drive costs higher. Policy providers may have little incentive to help lower drug costs. Pharmacies seldom pass generic drug rebates on to consumers, and physicians and patients are often unaware of the financial costs of prescription choices. But when there is a shared necessity to address problems, employers and employees can work together to find solutions.

BCNU and other BC health sector unions have already taken initial steps to consult their members on the issue of rising health premium costs. A 2008 study assessing union members’ attitudes towards lowercost, evidence-based prescription drug formularies found that most members favoured moving away from full, unrestricted drug

benefits if it would make their health benefit plans more cost effective and strengthen the overall benefits they currently receive.

Other alternatives explored in the study that received favourable responses included expanded alternative, non-drug therapies such as physiotherapy and acupuncture, and preventative health initiatives such as health and wellness accounts for yoga classes or bike repairs.

Innovative purchasing arrangements such as preferred provider networks (PPNs) can also be brought to bear on the problem of growing benefit costs.

PPNs can save employers up 20 percent of benefit costs while often providing employees with benefit enhancements.

These networks provide discounted extended healthcare services to their subscribers (employers) who pass the savings on to employees who choose to use in-network care providers.

Some policy providers have begun to

25

Pharmacare has benefited greatly from the Therapeutics Initiative, a respected independent drug research group established in 1994. Its drug review process saved lives and money—until the government cut its budget and gave the pharmaceutical industry a greater role in deciding which drugs will be covered by the provincial drug plan.

Now, British Columbians are less safe and pay more for expensive drugs.

Decisions like these increase the prevalence of costly brand-name prescription drugs and put pressure on employers who in turn demand that workers sacrifice wages to fund unsustainable drug costs.

Canada is also the only developed country without a national pharmacare program. A publicly funded and administered national drug plan would control costs, provide universal access, and ensure the safe and appropriate use of drugs.

Similarly, governments’ sustained investment in Medicare would ensure that impor-

unions and employers are exploring opportunities to make benefit plans more costeffective without sacrificing overall value to members. offer access to PPNs as one of their own product offerings. For example, Alberta Blue Cross offers a provincial dental network that provides discounted services to their subscribers. Workers are encouraged to access the network to gain an improved benefit option while employers’ premium costs can be dramatically reduced.

tant health care services remain publicly insured, reduce pressure on extended health care costs and address growing out-ofpocket healthcare spending on for-profit services not covered by our public health insurance.

The BCNU is committed to pushing government and policy-makers to support public policies that reduce workers’ need he recent round of bargaining has to access expensive extended healthcare made it clear that the increasing cost services. of benefits should not be ignored.

In the meantime, we need to get smart And inaction on the part of unions will with the money we are currently spending come with a price. Without the option of on health benefits. Examples from other cost-effective alternatives, employers will sectors of the Canadian economy show be unwilling to fund wage increases or hire that this is indeed possible. The BCNUmore workers when faced with growing HEABC Joint Benefits Review Committee benefits costs. will be doing its best to identify efficiencies The long-term solution to this problem that we can apply here to help ensure that is a political one. BC’s provincial drug plan nurses’ existing bargaining gains are pro– Pharmacare – helps British Columbians tected from the pressures of rising benefits with the cost of eligible prescription drugs. costs. update

T

26

Health & Safety in the workplace

THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON VIOLENCE IN THE HEALTH SECTOR COUNTERING DAILY VIOLENCE IN THE HEALTHCARE WORKPLACE: NURSES LEARN FROM THE SUCESSES OF OTHERS AROUND THE WORLD

COUNTERING DAILY VIOLENCE IN THE HEALTHCARE WORKPLACE Top: BCNU contest winners Maggie Joyce, Pat Bamra and Helena Barzilay attended a threeday conference to learn more from other jurisdictions about practices that can be imported that help address violence in their own workplaces. Above: US nurse and keynote speaker Kelly McLean.

Kelly McLean didn’t know what hit her. The recent nurse graduate had been working at New York’s Erie County Medical Center for just three months when she was violently assaulted by a patient. The same patient had attempted to jump the nurse’s station desk to attack a physician just six weeks prior. Unfortunately, in August 2010, the patient succeeded and attacked McLean with such force that she was hospitalized for several days and in recovery for 16 weeks.

McLean was a keynote speaker at the Third International Conference on Violence in the Health Sector that took place last October in Richmond. Speaking about the difficulties she faced in getting her employer to seriously address the staffing and security issues lead to her assault, McLean said that all too often the physical assault is only the beginning of the trauma for the nurse. Despite many good

intentions, health care settings often lack systems and protocol to properly handle acts of violence in the workplace.

“For the number of nurses in this country who have been assaulted, it’s important that we take these stories and learn from them,” said McLean of her experience in the US. “Unfortunately, nurses are discouraged from reporting these incidents and accept them as a part of our job. That has to change. You have the right to protect yourself.”

McLean’s experience changed her. Since the assault, she has been using her voice to advocate for adequate security for all nurses who are on the front lines of healthcare.

And he has joined her union, the New York State Nurses Association, in raising awareness about the prevalence of violence against nurses.

BCNU members were among the more than 400 stakeholders from around

the globe who came to hear McLean and others and take part in cutting-edge workshops looking at aggression in health workplaces and outlining strategies for countering it.

Those in attendance included the three winners of the free event passes that BCNU offered in a contest held earlier this year.

Pat Bamra, an OH&S steward who works at Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital said she was interested in learning how nurses can better hold employers accountable and make them aware of existing policies so that workers are not continually reminding employers to enforce them.

“I’m also interested in how to effectively ensure that staff properly report injuries or incidents of violence and making the process easier for staff,” she said.

Contest winner Helena Barzilay, a steward and lobby coordinator who works at Cranbrook Hospital, has an interest in violence and mental health. “I’m interested in learning about strategies for dealing with violence in general, but our hospital also has a psychiatric unit that’s had big issues with violence and injuries and people off work. I’d like to take information back to the unit and work on how to deal with it,” she said.

The conference was approved by the International Council of Nurses and sponsored by provincial, national and international nursing, healthcare and patient advocacy organizations. Local sponsors include all of BC’s major healthcare unions, health authorities, and WorkSafe BC. update

update magazine December 2012

BCNU Convention 2013

KEEPING the PROMISE March 5, 6 & 7, 2013 Hyatt Regency 655 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC Telephone: 604-683-1234

Monday, March 4

Wednesday, March 6

3:00 pm – 8:00 pm Registration

8:30 am – 8:45 am Call to Order

4:45 pm – 5:00 pm Sergeant At Arms, Scrutineers

8:45 am – 9:00 am Linda Silas

and Ombudsperson meets with Parliamentarian

9:00 am – 10:00 am Resolutions & By-laws

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm New Delegates Information Session

10:30 am – 12:00pm Resolutions & By-laws

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm Delegate Whip Information Meeting

1:30 pm – 3:30 pm Resolutions & By-laws

6:30 pm – 9:00 pm Meet & Greet

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Resolutions & By-laws 6:30 pm No Host Bar

KEEPING the PROMISE Tuesday, March 5

7:00 pm Banquet

7:30 am – 8:30 am Registration

8:30 am – 9:00 am Call to Order

Thursday, March 7

9:00 am – 9:15 am Year in Review Video

8:30 am – 8:35 am Call to Order

9:15 am – 1 0:00 am President’s Opening Remarks

8:35 am – 10:00 am Resolutions & By-laws

10:30 am – 10:35 am Delegate Count

10:30 am – 12:00 pm Keynote Speaker: Linda Duxbury

10:35 am – 1 2:00 pm Finance Report & Executive

Director Report

1:30 pm – 3:15 pm Reports 3:45 pm – 5:15 pm Open Forum 5:15 pm – 5:30 pm Recognition of Retiring Activists 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Resolutions Committee Meeting 6:00 pm Nominations Committee Candidates’

Meeting

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Resolutions & By-laws

3:30 pm – 4:45 pm Resolutions & By-laws 4:45 pm Closing 5:00 pm Adjournment

27

28 Proposed By-law amendments for Convention 2013

CURRENT WORDING

PROPOSED AMENDMENT

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

2.01

To erase ‘registered’ before ‘nurses’

2.01

All registered nurses and licensed graduate nurses who are engaged in the practice of nursing and other allied personnel in the Province of British Columbia and who are eligible to engage in collective bargaining are eligible for membership in the Union, provided that no allied personnel shall be admitted to membership without the approval of a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the Council.

To erase ‘and licensed graduate nurses who are’ before ‘engaged’

All nurses engaged in the practice of nursing and other allied personnel in the Province of British Columbia who are eligible to engage in collective bargaining are eligible for membership in the Union.

No allied personnel shall be admitted to membership without the approval of a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the Council.

Article 2.01

To erase ‘and’ before ‘who’ To add a ‘.’ after ‘Union’ To erase ‘provided that’ before ‘no’

Proposed by: BCNU Council Rationale: To reflect the reality of BCNU membership and the reception of new LPN members.

Bylaws Committee Recommendation: No Recommendation.

CURRENT WORDING

PROPOSED AMENDMENT

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

To add 7.03 (e):

7.03 (a) The terms of office of the current Regional Council Members elected in the following regions: South Islands (1), Pacific Rim, Central Vancouver (1), Shaughnessy Heights, RIVA, Fraser Valley, South Fraser Valley (1), Simon Fraser (1), Thompson North Okanagan and East Kootenay shall be extended until August 31, 2014.

Article 7.03 7.03 a) The terms of office of the current Regional Council Members elected in the following regions: South Islands (1), Pacific Rim, Central Vancouver (1), Shaughnessy Heights, RIVA, Fraser Valley, South Fraser Valley (1), Simon Fraser (1), Thompson North Okanagan and East Kootenay shall be extended until August 31, 2014. b) Election of Regional Council Members in the following regions: South Islands (1), Coastal Mountain, Vancouver Metro, Central Vancouver (1), South Fraser Valley (1), Simon Fraser (1), Okanagan Similkameen, West Kootenay, North West and North East shall proceed in 2012, and in 2014, and every 3 years thereafter.

Election of Regional Council member(s) and Regional Executives shall be held in the same year as directed by Article 7, following the election of provincial officers.

The call for nominations for regional election of officers shall be done following the completion of the provincial election.

(b) Election of Regional Council Members in the following regions: South Islands (1), Coastal Mountain, Vancouver Metro, Central Vancouver (1), South Fraser Valley (1), Simon Fraser (1), Okanagan Similkameen, West Kootenay, North West and North East shall proceed in 2012, and in 2014, and every 3 years thereafter.

update magazine December 2012

c) The terms of office of the Regional Council Members defined by Article 7.03(b) of these Bylaws who are elected in 2012 shall be two (2) years commencing on the first day of September 2012. d) The terms of office of all Regional Council Members, as defined by Article 7.01 of these Bylaws, elected in 2014 and thereafter shall be three (3) years commencing on the first day of September following election.

29

(c) The terms of office of the Regional Council Members defined by Article 7.03(b) of these Bylaws who are elected in 2012 shall be two (2) years commencing on the first day of September 2012. (d) The terms of office of all Regional Council Members, as defined by Article 7.01 of these Bylaws, elected in 2014 and thereafter shall be three (3) years commencing on the first day of September following election. (e) Election of Regional Council member(s) and Regional Executives shall be held in the same year as directed by Article 7, following the election of provincial officers. The call for nominations for regional election of officers shall be done following the completion of the provincial election.

Proposed by: Brenda Hill and supported by Leslie Graham (Pacific Rim Region) Rationale: This addition will allow all members in good standing the opportunity to stand for provincial office without having to make an unnecessary choice regarding continuing in current regional roles.

At Convention in 2012 bylaws were changed so provincial and regional elections are next held in 2014. The bylaws do not specify the timing of the regional elections. This is an opportunity for elected delegates to decide what is best for the organization. Regional elections should be held separately.

Provincial candidates should not have to give up all opportunities for regional office for 3 years.

BCNU is a grassroots organization where ideally members move up as they gain experience and knowledge, percolating to the top. We should encourage strong candidates to seek higher office or continue in leadership roles. If elections are held on the same day it forces qualified candidates to make an unnecessary choice between continuing in their valuable current roles and offering their services province wide.

Regional executive members have the opportunity to develop leadership skills and increased knowledge and expertise in their individual roles. BCNU invests in regional leaders with education and mentoring during their terms of office. Our union should not have a schedule that puts at risk losing valuable human resources. Changes in officers at the regional level should be determined by election, not schedule. The cost of holding separate elections is not significant. The potential loss of expertise of regional leaders is significant.

Potential Scenario: Two regional treasurers feel capable and would like the new challenge of holding provincial office. Each has developed skills, obtained knowledge of the organization, gained valuable experience in the development of budgets, and had the opportunity to function on a leadership team. If both run for provincial office in a system where regional and provincial elections are held at the same time BCNU will lose the expertise of at least one for 3 years.

Cost: The cost of holding provincial and regional elections in different time periods if done by telephone vote could be negotiated. There would need to be a process to present candidates for individual regions and determine eligible voters whenever it is held. The provincial officer slate will be separated from the regional slates.

The cost of replacing regional executive members would vary depending on the role.

Example: New treasurers usually have at least one day of education so would need travel, accommodation and salary replacement.

Bylaws Committee Recommendation: No Recommendation.

30

CURRENT WORDING

PROPOSED AMENDMENT

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

To add ‘by membership numbers’ before ‘as follows’

15.10

Article 15.10 15.10 Representation at Conventions of the Union shall be allotted as follows: (a) Regions to 800 = 12 delegates Regions 801 - 1200 = 14 delegates Regions 1201 - 1600 = 16 delegates Regions 1601 - 2000 = 18 delegates Regions 2001 - 2400 = 20 delegates Regions 2401 - 2800 = 22 delegates Regions 2801 - 3200 = 24 delegates Regions 3201 - 3600 = 26 delegates Regions 3601 and greater = 28 delegates (b) Each of the four eligible Caucuses shall elect two delegates.

To delete: Regions 2801 - 3200 = 24 delegates Regions 3201 - 3600 = 26 delegates Regions 3601 and greater = 28 delegates To add: Regions 2801-3000 = 24 delegates Regions 3001-3200 = 26 delegates Regions 3201-3400 = 28 delegates Regions 3401- 3600 = 30 delegates Regions 3601 and greater = 32 delegates

Representation at Conventions of the Union shall be allotted by membership numbers as follows: (a) Regions to 800 = 12 delegates Regions 801-1200 = 14 delegates Regions 1201-1600 = 16 delegates Regions 1601-2000 = 18 delegates Regions 2001-2400 = 20 delegates Regions 2401-2800 = 22 delegates Regions 2801-3000 = 24 delegates Regions 3001-3200 = 26 delegates Regions 3201-3400 = 28 delegates Regions 3401- 3600 = 30 delegates Regions 3601 and greater = 32 delegates (b) Each of the four eligible Caucuses shall elect two delegates.

Proposed by: Provincial Democracy in the Union Committee and supported by BCNU Council Rationale: For fair representation at Convention.

Bylaws Committee Recommendation: No Recommendation.

CURRENT WORDING

PROPOSED AMENDMENT

IF ADOPTED, WILL READ

To add ‘external’ before ‘auditor’

19.01

Article 19.01 19.01 At the Annual Convention each year the Voting Body shall appoint an auditor who shall be a chartered accountant or a firm of chartered accountants whose appointment shall be in effect until the close of the next Annual Convention.

At the Annual Convention each year the Voting Body shall appoint an external auditor who shall be a chartered accountant or a firm of chartered accountants whose appointment shall be in effect until the close of the next Annual Convention.

Proposed by: Leslie Graham and supported by Brenda Hill (Pacific Rim Region) Rationale: This addition clearly states that BCNU books will be audited by outside sources and will promote transparency. This provides an outside overview of the financial conditions, leaving no chance of any perceived internal issues.

This is established practice at BCNU. Regional books are sent to the head office to be reviewed and all findings are then viewed by the external auditor.

Thus all aspects of the financial conditions are scrutinized by outside firms.

Cost: There is no further cost. Effective at next appointment.

Bylaws Committee Recommendation: No Recommendation.

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update magazine December 2012

CONVENTION DELEGATES 2013 (Article 15.10)

Region

NET # of Members

Delegates Based on Net #’s

One delegate Represent # of Member

Delegates Based on Net # Using Proposed Formula

NET # of Members

One delegate Represent # of Member Using Proposed Formula

Central Vancouver

2802

24

117

2802

24

117

Coastal Mountain

1378

16

86

1378

16

86

417

12

35

417

12

35

Fraser Valley

1500

16

94

1500

16

94

North East

1454

16

91

1454

16

91

East Kootenay

North West

431

12

36

431

12

36

Okanagan Similkameen

1628

18

90

1628

18

90

Pacific Rim

2103

20

105

2103

20

105

RIVA

1694

18

94

1694

18

94

Shaughnessy Heights

1475

16

92

1475

16

92

Simon Fraser

3376

26

130

3376

28

121

South Fraser Valley

3265

26

126

3265

28

117

South Islands

3002

24

125

3002

26

115

Thompson North Okanagan

1804

18

100

1804

18

100

Vancouver Metro

2004

20

100

2004

20

100

484

12

40

484

12

40

28817

294

98

28817

300

96

West Kootenay

Formula under article 15.10

Membership # to 800

Delegate #’s 12

Proposed Formula to 800

12

801 - 1200

14

801 - 1200

14

1201 - 1600

16

1201 - 1600

16

1601 - 2000

18

1601 - 2000

18

2001 - 2400

20

2001 - 2400

20

2401 - 2800

22

2401 - 2800

22

2801 - 3200

24

2801-3000

24

3201 - 3600

26

3001-3200

26

>3601

28

3200-3400

28

3400-3600

30

>3600

32

32 Resolutions Resolution 1 BCNU Lobbying for Rural Emergency Departments

Resolution 2 BCNU Stewards on Hiring Panels

Submitted by Jessie Renzie – West Kootenay Region Moved by Jessie Renzie Seconded by Lynda Moss Endorsed by West Kootenay Region

Submitted by Kathy Bonitz – Simon Fraser Region Moved by Valentina Maliarenko Seconded by Kathy Bonitz

Whereas,

BCNU believes in protecting and advancing the health, social and economic well being of its members and their communities;

Whereas,

even management includes unit members on panels when they are interviewing for leadership positions (such as PCCs) on workplace units, and

Whereas,

Canada’s publicly funded and publicly delivered health care system is known to be one of the best in the world, but continues to be eroded;

Whereas,

experienced Stewards have a good idea how their workplace and Union functions, and

Whereas, Whereas,

Rural Emergency departments are experiencing cutbacks, reduction in services and closures;

Stewards benefit by a cohesive and respectful work environment, and

Whereas,

democracy is a cherished Union value,

Resolved,

that BCNU work closely with rural Emergency Departments at risk of cutbacks and closure by: promotion of Nurse First Call and Remote Nursing Practice Certification for RNs, by engaging with Nurse Practitioners, by assisting to support and educate nurses and the public on ways to lobby and advocate to save these publicly funded, publicly administered healthcare services.

Resolved,

in the future, Steward(s) from the facility where FT Stewards are being hired, be part of BCNU hiring panels for FT Steward positions, and

Resolved,

panel member or members be elected by that facility’s Steward team.

Cost:

Use of steward hours.

Rationale:

The hiring committee now consists of 2 BCNU employee and council members. There is no peer group representation on the panel. Our employer has 2 RNs on the interview panel. Our Union at least should meet employer standards.

Further resolved;

Cost:

that BCNU promote that consultation shall occur with affected staff and local government prior to any changes in service.

Cost of lobbying.

Background: BCNU’s Mission Statement BCNU’s Strategic Direction (p. 6) BCNU’s Strategic Direction Objectives, 3.3 (p. 8) BCNU’s Vision Statement Strategic Direction (p.4) Nurse First Call Remote Nursing Practice Certification Nurse Practitioners Video Conferencing Teleconferencing Non Physician Directed Care Models Public opinion and comments related to health care services ie. Kaslo

update magazine December 2012

33

Resolution 3 Steward Experience and Seniority

Resolution 4 Grievance Dispute Language for full time steward position

Submitted by Kathy Bonitz – Simon Fraser Region Moved by Valentina Maliarenko Seconded by Kathy Bonitz

Submitted by Kathy Bonitz – Simon Fraser Region Moved by Valentina Maliarenko Seconded by Kathy Bonitz

Whereas,

seniority is one of the fundamental principles of trade unionism, and

Whereas,

the PCA governs many of the conditions of our employment, and

Whereas,

experienced Stewards have a good idea how their workplace and Union functions, and

Whereas,

BCNU prides itself in maintaining and upholding every article of the PCA, and

Whereas,

Stewards benefit from a cohesive and respectful work environment,

Whereas,

there is clear process for resolution of differences in the PCA,

Resolved,

that Steward experience and seniority be a primary consideration when choosing new FT Stewards.

Resolved,

Cost:

Negligible.

that the language in the PCA for resolving differences should pertain to BCNU members when applying for an employer paid position – such as FT Steward should the final decision be in dispute.

Rationale:

As Stewards, we fight for positions for our members based on seniority and experience. Seniority is a #1 priority for trade unions.

Cost:

Cost similar to grievance procedure.

Rationale:

Since this position was reached in the previous contract negotiation, there is no clear process of challenging the unsuccessful outcome.

Unsuccessful candidates should have grievance procedures if they disagree with outcome.

34

Nominations 2013 A call for

Nominations Committee Election

I

n June 2010, Vancouver arbitrator Rod Germaine submitted a series of recommendations to BCNU Council aimed at improving our union’s election process.

One of Germaine’s recommendations called for the establishment of a neutral Nominations Committee to administer BCNU elections. The by-laws of the BCNU were amended to establish that Committee in 2011.

This is a call for BCNU members to nominate candidates for the Nominations Committee whose term will begin April 1, 2013 and run until August 31, 2016.

Candidates for the Nominations Committee can hold no BCNU office above that of steward, and must not be seen to be supporting any candidate during the election period. The election for Nominations Committee members will be held at BCNU’s annual convention. Each candidate will be expected to give a three-minute speech at an all-candidates meeting held during convention.

Nomination Forms

These forms are the official nomination form for the British Columbia Nurses’ Union. All nominations

must be submitted on this form or a facsimile thereof.

Each nomination form must be signed by any four individual BCNU members eligible under Article 2 of the British Columbia Nurses’ Union Constitution and By-laws.

Candidates shall submit a biographical sketch and a statement of objectives, which when combined will be no more than 250 words.

This information must be typed in the space provided on the form.

Candidates must also provide a recent 5” X 7” colour glossy photo (head and shoulders shot). The photo and other information will be circulated with the convention delegate material.

Each nominee must sign the consent and declaration statements of the nomination form. Candidates and those who nominate them must be BCNU members. Nominations, biographical sketches, statements and photos must be received at the BCNU office in Burnaby by 5:00 pm on January 18, 2013. Please ensure your envelope is clearly marked “Nomination Form” and addressed to Mabel Tung, Chair of the Democracy in the Union Committee.

Material received after this deadline will not be accepted. update

Nomination Forms can be downloaded at bcnu.org

The purpose of the Nominations Committee 1 Carry out the duties of the BCNU Constitution and By-laws and others as may be assigned by the BCNU Council including: a. Liaise with the BCNU staff members in the processing of elections b. Liaise with the regional Nominations Committee chairs c. Liaise and conduct business with external agencies for purposes related to the processing of elections d. Develop election packages and supervise their delivery e. Supervise the voting process, and f. Communicate and supervise the communication of election process information and election results to candidates, members, staff and the public

2 The scope of this committee encompasses all elections for elected officers of the union 3 Advise and make recommendations to BCNU Council, the executive committee and/ or executive directors 4 Report to the BCNU Council 5 Encourage BCNU activists to seek nominations for nurse college Boards For more detailed information see the Terms of Reference for the Nominations Committee.

update magazine December 2012

PRFs

35

STAY CONNECTED

in the workplace

taking the mystery out of prf committees This is the third instalment of a five-part series aimed at helping members demystify the Professional Responsibility Form process. Getting Members Engaged With The Process explains how to organize successful meetings. The ongoing PRF series, which will appear in the next two Updates, explores a wide range of other topics including My Role On The PRF Committee. For more PRF information, please visit bcnu.org or contact your BCNU worksite steward or regional chair.

Getting members engaged with the process

MOVING? NEW EMAIL? When you move, please let BCNU know your new address so we can keep sending you the Update, election information and other vital union material. Forward us your home email address and we’ll send you the latest BCNU bulletins and news releases.

I am the Co-Chair for the PRF Committee at my worksite, but sometimes when we schedule a PRF Committee meeting, the members don’t come. It’s really frustrating and feels like a waste of everyone’s time.

What should we do?

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: • Ensure the meeting scheduling is flexible enough to meet nurses’ needs (shift work).

• Check in by phone a day or two in advance of the meeting as a reminder and to verify attendance.

• Discuss any concerns with the PRF author(s) about attending the meeting; perhaps they are fearful about attend-

ing or don’t think it will be worthwhile.

• Educate nurses about the importance of attending – they are the only ones who can speak legitimately and convincingly about their experience.

They “own” the process, not you!

• Consider using the form letters from the Steward toolkit that are designed to: • notify a nurse of the

date her PRF meeting is booked for; • request confirmation of intent to attend (RSVP); • notify a nurse when she’s missed her scheduled meeting and the potential consequences (e.g.: one or two more opportunities and your file will be closed, but inform them of the ongoing chance to use PRFs if another situation arises. update

Please contact the Membership Department by email at membership@bcnu.org or by phone at 604-433-2268 or 1-800-663-9991

36

Council Profile Here’s Who’s Working For You

A PASSIONATE VOICE south Fraser valley cochair lisa walker

Empowering Members

“The fact that change does not happen overnight doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do all we can right now,” says South Fraser Valley Co-chair Lisa Walker. quick facts Name Lisa Walker.

Graduated Kwantlen University in 1995.

Union Position South Fraser Valley co-chair. Why I support BCNU “Because the BCNU takes a multifaceted approach to working towards good care – not just for nurses but for all British Columbians.”

It wasn’t long before South Fraser Valley Co-chair Lisa Walker found herself involved in union activism after she decided to attend a meeting at the BCNU offices to tackle the issue of emergency room overcapacity.

Working in the ER at Langley Memorial Hospital, she was increasingly concerned about the deteriorating care conditions and the toll it was taking on her ability to meet patients’ needs.

It was 2006 and Walker was invited by South Fraser Valley Co-chairs Janice Buchanan and Cheryl Appleton who encouraged her to become more active on an ER campaign the union was running. Before long she became a steward and was helping other nurses face workplace challenges.

“It’s amazing to work with all these dedicated people in the ER who really want to provide the best service — but it’s practically impossible when every

day, every single bed is full and we’ve got patients waiting to go up to the ward while a waiting room of people need attention.

It’s near impossible to meet our standards and do what we feel is right, but the danger is that we can start no normalize the abnormal and just accept stretchers lined up in the hallway. It’s very damaging to nurses’ practise and doesn’t meet patients’ needs.”

Walker graduated from Surrey’s Kwantlen University in 1995. “It was the only program in the province that provided evening courses. That was important as I had small children at the time.”

She had difficulty finding work after graduation. Most new grads were not getting hired and she found work with the Langley public health office vaccinating school kids against measles.

Fortunately, at one of her interviews the manager recognized Walker as the recipient of

a CRNBC award that she had presented at Walker’s graduation. Shortly after, Walker began working at Langley Memorial and spent several years as a casual stationed all over the hospital. When a nurse manager offered her employer-sponsored ER training at BCIT, she took the opportunity and spent the next 10 years working in the ER. South Fraser Valley members elected Walker to BCNU Council in 2010. “It’s important to have a passion for human rights and diversity issues and being a voice for our public healthcare system,” she says when asked what makes an effective Council member. “Growing up I was always concerned with fairness, dignity and respect and from a very young age I was able to recognize when something wasn’t right.”

Walker says it’s important that Canada’s healthcare system remains publicly financed and delivered on a not-for-profit basis. “There are all kinds of myths out there about how private health care is needed to save Medicare because it’s been labelled unsustainable.”

“When the public is told that the healthcare system is broken they are being given a pitch for expanded private delivery—but fixes nothing. We don’t increase capacity and resources. You’ve still got the same number of physicians allied health professionals including nurses, technicians and others working in both systems.

One of Walker’s current goals is to become more active in her newly appointed role of Council liaison for the BCNU Aboriginal Leadership Circle. She is excited to be working with ALC members, supporting first nations health care and advocating for first nations and aboriginal nurses working in the healthcare system. update

update magazine December 2012

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 contact your steward. regional reps If your steward can’t help, or for all regional matters, contact your regional rep. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE For all provincial, national or union policy issues, contact your executive committee.

executive committee PRESIDENT Debra McPherson W 604-433-2268 or 1-800-663-9991 Voice Mail #2713 dmcpherson@bcnu.org VICE PRESIDENT Christine Sorensen C 250-819-6293 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2141 christinesorensen@bcnu.org treasurer Mabel Tung C 604-328-9346

W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2255 mtung@bcnu.org executive councillor Marg Dhillon C 604-839-9158 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2733 mdhillon@bcnu.org executive councillor Deb Ducharme C 250-804-9964 W 1-800-663-9991 Voice Mail #2868 dducharme@bcnu.org

regional reps Vancouver Metro Colette Wickstrom Chair C 604-789-9240 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2783 cwickstrom@bcnu.org

Central Vancouver Judy McGrath Co-Chair C 604-970-4339 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2802 jmcgrath@bcnu.org

Coastal Mountain Kath-Ann Terrett Chair C 604-828-0155 W 604-433-2268 kterrett@bcnu.org

Diane LaBarre Co-Chair C 604-341-5231 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2722 dlabarre@bcnu.org

37

Shaughnessy Heights Claudette Jut Chair C 604-786-8422 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2737 claudettejut@bcnu.org

East Kootenay Patt Shuttleworth Chair C 250-919-4890 W 1-800-663-9991 Voice Mail #2751 pshuttleworth@bcnu.org

RIVA Lauren Vandergronden Chair C 604-785-8148 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2763 laurenvandergronden@bcnu.org

North West Sharon Sponton Chair C 250-877-2547 W 1-800-663-9991 Voice Mail #2810 sharonsponton@bcnu.org

Simon Fraser Liz Ilczaszyn Co-Chair C 604-785-8157 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2760 lilczaszyn@bcnu.org

North East Jackie Nault Chair C 250-960-8621 W 1-800-663-9991 Voice Mail #2772 jacquelinenault@bcnu.org

Debbie Picco Co-Chair C 604-209-4260 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2700 dpicco@bcnu.org

Okanagan-Similkameen Laurie Munday Chair C 250-212-0530 W 778-755-5576 Voice Mail #2719 lmunday@bcnu.org

South Fraser Valley Cheryl Appleton Co-Chair C 604-839-8965 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2773 cappleton@bcnu.org Lisa Walker Co-Chair C 604-880-9105 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2747 lisawalker@bcnu.org Fraser Valley Linda Pipe Chair C 604-793-6444 W 604-433-2268 Voice Mail #2734 lpipe@bcnu.org West Kootenay Lorne Burkart Chair C 250-354-5311 W 1-800-663-9991 lorneburkart@bcnu.org

Thompson North Okanagan Tracy Quewezance Chair C 250-320-8064 tquewezance@bcnu.org South Islands Adriane Gear Co-Chair C 778-679-1213 W 1-800-663-9991 Voice Mail #2727 adrianegear@bcnu.org Margo Wilton Co-Chair C 250-361-8479 W 1-800-663-9991 Voice Mail #2685 mwilton@bcnu.org Pacific Rim Jo Taylor Chair C 250-713-7066 W 1-800-663-9991 Voice Mail #2774 jtaylor@bcnu.org

38

update magazine November/December 2012

Off Duty members after hours

TO THE BEAT OF HIS OWN DRUM CARL OLSEN CREATES HAND-MADE TRADITIONAL DRUMS THAT DELIVER AN EXCEPTIONAL SOUND The fact that he had never built a drum didn’t stop Carl Olsen from choosing to become a drum maker. “You never know whether or not you can do something until you give it a try,” says Olsen, a community health rep at the Tsartlip

Nation Health Centre, located in Brentwood Bay near Victoria.

“My parents and grandparents were always really good with their hands,” he says. “And I was always interested in working with wood. But I taught myself to make drums through

books and experimentation.

Now I’m trying to refine my skills and get better.”

Today, just five years after completing his first instrument, Olsen has developed a solid reputation for creating drums that deliver an exceptional sound. “Each one is unique,” he explains, “because they are hand-made and there are so many variables.”

Steeped in the traditions of his people, Olsen prefers to use yellow cedar for the frame and elk hide for the drums’ skin. He forms the cedar into the correct circular shape and cleans and soaks the elk’s skin until it is soft and malleable.

“I hunt,” says Olsen, “but I get most of the hides from my neighbours. I use the thickest

TSARTLIP NATION HEALTH CENTRE COMMUNITY HEALTH REP CARL OLSEN “It’s so rewarding to do this work with my hands,” he says. “It clears my mind of everything I’ve been dealing with during the day.”

part of the skin, from the tail to the middle of the neck, because it gives the best sound.”

His nimble fingers thread a thin leather thong through holes he has punched into the prepared skin. Next, he pulls the thong tight, before adding a leather handle on the drum’s backside. Then, it’s just a matter of waiting about 24 hours for the skin to dry before the drum is ready to speak.

“It’s so rewarding to do this work with my hands,” he says.

“I guess it’s my therapy. It clears my mind of everything I’ve been dealing with during the day.”

Olsen has worked at the Tsartlip Nation Health Centre for over 15 years. He loves the job, which includes helping community members access the healthcare services they need and organizing and delivering a wide variety of prevention programs. His daughter, Heather Olsen, is an RN at the facility, which is being replaced by a brand new facility in the next few months.

Olsen hopes to play one of his drums at the much-anticipated opening ceremony of the new health centre. He’s also slowly preparing for his retirement, which he hopes to start in the next couple of years. “I’m building a new shed,” he says, “where I plan to keep making drums and paddles and other things.”

When he finally retires, Olsen also hopes to make traditional hand-crafted steamed cedar bent boxes. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do and something I’ll have to teach myself. But I’m looking forward to learning a new skill.” update

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Most presidents won’t answer your questions, but ours will.

Bookmark your union’s website, now with an Ask The President feature that lets you enter into a private dialogue with Debra McPherson, whether about important union business or specific matters of personal concern.

Visit BCNU’s website: www.bcnu.org

From BCNU Council Left column, from top:

Cheryl Appleton Mabel Tung Lorne Burkart Lauren Vandergronden Diane LaBarre Margo Wilton Liz Ilczaszyn Lisa Walker Debbie Picco Middle column, from top:

Debra McPherson Marg Dhillon Sharon Sponton Patt Shuttleworth Jo Taylor Kath-Ann Terrett Right column, from top: Deb Ducharme

Christine Sorensen Claudette Jut Adriane Gear Colette Wickstrom Laurie Munday Jackie Nault Judy McGrath Not pictured: Linda Pipe Tracy Quewezance Photo taken prior to LPN elections.

New LPN Council reps on page 19.

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