Author: Guest Post: A BCNU
Member and Nurse in B.C. (Oct. 11, 2021). Open Letter to the BC
Nurses Union (BCNU), October 11, 2021. Tracey Young [Ed.]. Advocacy BC. Retrieved from: https://advocacybc.blogspot.com/2021/10/open-letter-to-bc-nurses-union-bcnu.html.
An Open Letter to the BC Nurses Union (BCNU) Chief Executive Officer,
Mr. Cody Hedman, dated October 11, 2021
Dear Mr. Hedman,
On September 28th, 2021, as the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of the BC Nurses Union (BCNU), you indicated in your Town Hall
self-introduction that you would be seeking open dialogue with members both in
the Town Hall and beyond, 'answering the tough questions', and endeavoring to
show union members grit and the ability to handle whatever difficult scenarios
may arise. You painted a picture of yourself as a tough union boss of years
gone by – someone who would walk the talk and not be afraid of direct
confrontation.
I was part of a large group of nurses on this Town
Hall, calling in to ask questions regarding vaccine mandates and BCNU actions.
The moderator asked for our names, worksites, and intended questions. We were
transparent in our intent to ask questions involving the mandates – and were
thus kept waiting while the ‘live’ callers discussed working short premiums,
workloads, benefits and mentoring of new nurses. Although these were important
questions, are you seriously able to claim any one of these were more
important than the looming loss of a thousand or more nurses to the profession,
and the loss of income and employment for BCNU members due to the impending
vaccine mandates, or the threats and harassment nurses are currently being
subjected to in order to ‘consent’ to a medical procedure?
To your credit, you acknowledged many nurses in BC
will be leaving the profession. Shockingly however, your biggest concern seemed
to be how to replace these nurses, not how to retain
and protect their rights and their jobs. Is it possible I misunderstood you,
because surely the CEO of the BCNU would never speak that way or hold such a
callous position about the membership he is supposed to represent?
For nurses facing loss of profession and loss of
income, it was surreal to have the mandate questions seemingly ignored, if not
actively blocked during the Town Hall. This certainly did fly in the face of
your initial introduction of yourself as a ‘street fighter’. In fact, it seems
when faced with your first major challenge, you would rather take flight than
face the fight. There was an elephant in the room, yet you only mentioned it in
passing – along with your endorsement of your own status as double vaccinated.
Here’s the thing – I neither need nor want to know your vaccination status,
just as I don't need or want to know your sexual orientation, your gender,
creed, or your other medical particulars.
In fact, under the circumstances, I believe it was
inappropriate for you to mention your particular medical decision to take the
shots as it appeared you were either virtue signaling, or trying to curry
favour with a certain segment of participants. Your actions, combined with the
concerted effort to keep the vaccine mandate question from being asked ‘live’,
lead any fair-minded and reasonable person to conclude ‘the fix was in’ from
the start.
During the Town Hall, you also spoke of your
earnest wish to communicate with members, yet you are nowhere to be found on
the BCNU website. Even more so, there is no actual way to call the BCNU office
and speak with a ‘live’ person’. Not even a receptionist. There is merely a
recorded message in all eight departments and a promise to endeavor to return
calls within 48 hours. In 2020, there was a pandemic 24 hr line available to
BCNU members. What is available this year? Why have these communication
barriers been put in place during this time of crisis for the BCNU membership?
How do paying BCNU members communicate with you and receive answers to our
important questions?
At this very moment, BCNU members are being forced
into receiving a medical treatment, and are being threatened with loss of
employment and income if we do not comply. We are being placed under extreme
emotional and economic coercion, as well as pressure and trauma on the job. We
are being bullied and harassed.
You know as well as I that as we ‘wait’, members
are currently giving in to pressures due to the unprecedented levels of
bullying and harassment. It is not okay for the BCNU to stand by and simply
‘wait’ for a written mandate before you react to protect your members.
Additionally, confidential medical information on
current vaccination status is being shared widely among health authorities and
governments without prior consent. Managers are calling nurses in for
meetings after obtaining their private and confidential medical information.
This violates BC legislation regarding privacy rights of personal health
information, as well as employment policies of our employers. Nurses do not
understand why, or how this is being allowed to happen, and why the BCNU is not
putting a stop to this invasion of our privacy.
Actions required of the BCNU:
➤ BCNU must set up an urgent Town Hall Zoom meeting
in the next week to address these questions about the mandate and the
employment and income security issues members have.
➤ Ongoing meetings for members must also be scheduled
so members can continue to bring forward the urgent issues they are facing for
advice, support, and advocacy from the BCNU Executive leadership team.
➤ Transparency on any and all communications as it
relates to mandates with the government/employers must be provided to the
membership on an ongoing basis so as to ensure full disclosure to BCNU members
of how the leadership is managing this current crisis.
Questions for urgent consideration:
BCNU members need to be free from threats and
violence in all forms. This includes the threats to employment consequences
over the vaccine mandates. Employers are already initiating meetings with BCNU
members, and threatening with unpaid LOA’s, which is a form of disciplinary
action. They are also issuing threats of termination if we do not comply with a
mandate that does not yet exist, and has not been formally issued by the BC
government, or Provincial Health Officer. You acknowledged this.
1. How will the BCNU
support nurses in maintaining employment free of abuse, harassment,
intimidation, violence, and coercion without any further delays?
2. It is shocking to hear you say you're waiting to
see what the government puts in writing before you react. That is simply not
good enough, and hardly the stance one would expect of a self-proclaimed ‘tough
and gritty union boss’. Other instances of employment threat and intimidation
do not need to be put in writing to be considered actionable. If you do not
stand up and fight for us now, when will you?
3. How does the BCNU plan to protect members from
medical coercion even with a written mandate? What happened to informed
consent?
4. What documents or communications have the BC
government and/or health employers provided to the BCNU about the vaccine
mandates to date? Why has this information not been shared with the membership?
5. How are employers being given access to our
personal and confidential health information without provision of the right to
consent, or even knowledge this is being done?
6. How will the BCNU ensure members rights to privacy
of personal and confidential medical information is enforced?
7. What is the union doing about this unprecedented
breach of privacy of members?
8. Has the BCNU launched an investigation and
initiated a complaint to the Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner
about the widespread violation of the privacy rights of BCNU members?
9. What other confidential personal health information
has been shared with our employers?
Lastly, I will point out that I have paid union
dues to the BCNU for over 20 years, and I have a right to demand the benefit of
union leadership that is strong, proactive, and supportive, not weak,
indecisive, and reactive.
This is an unprecedented time of crisis where every
single moment matters.
I and my fellow BCNU members look forward to your
timely response.
Thank you,
A
nurse in urgent need of BCNU help and advocacy
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