BCNU falls short of province-wide application for LPNs

The BC Nurses Union (BCNU) filed a raid application to the Labour Relations Board (LRB) on Monday, November 30 to represent LPNs currently in the Hospital Employees' Union (HEU).

The primary application is for HEU LPNs in the facilities subsector of the Health Employers' Association of BC (HEABC) only and does not include BCGEU members in the same agreement.

BCNU filed alternative applications to represent LPNs in the six health authorities in the event that the primary application is dismissed. BCGEU sought clarity on Tuesday, December 1 and were told by the LRB - through the BCNU - that BCGEU LPNs were not included in the alternative raid applications.

However, in an about-face, the BCNU's lawyer contacted the LRB today to inform them that the alternative applications do in fact include BCGEU LPNs in the six health authorities. This would affect only a small number of worksites where BCGEU LPNs are employed and we are seeking clarification on which worksites would be impacted.

After many months of positive outreach, BCGEU and HEU are confident that the majority of LPNs want to stay with their unions and are focused on bargaining rather than the divisive BCNU raid.

"The confusing raid application that the BCNU filed on Monday seems desperate and flies in the face of everything they have been saying to-date about unifying nurses," says BCGEU president Darryl Walker.

"They can't even decide who they want to represent. They claim to want to unify nurses but their very application ensures that LPNs will be further fractured and divided."

It is still unclear whether or not the LRB will schedule a vote. In order for a vote to take place, the BCNU must have signed membership cards from over 50% of the LPNs they intend to represent.

If BCNU does not meet the threshold of signed cards required, then the applications will be dismissed.