The British Columbia Nurses Union has issued a 72-hour strike notice just weeks after its members voted to reject a tentative contract offer.
The union represents 60,000 nurses and said Monday that the action signals growing frustration by its members with the pressures facing their profession and the health-care system.
Union president Adriane Gear said during the announcement that the nurses will be in a legal position to strike on Thursday if no progress is made in negotiations.
“We are demanding to be heard,” Gear said. “Nurses are demanding that our work be valued. And we are demanding that government and health employers recognize a simple truth: there is no health care system without nurses.”
Members previously rejected a tentative deal reached in May that would have given them a 12-per-cent wage increase over four years and other improved benefits.
Nurses voted 67 per cent to reject the contract negotiated by its union leadership.
Gear said among the frustrations being expressed by her members is deteriorating workplace safety, where violence in health care settings can be seen on a monthly — if not daily — basis.
“For many nurses, this is more than a collective agreement,” Gear said. “It is about a profession that has reached a breaking point. It is about nurses who can no longer stay silent as they watch experienced and novice colleagues leave the profession injured and burnt out.”
Health Minister Josie Osborne said in a statement after the strike notice was issued that they respect the right of all workers to bargain collectively, including the decision to take job action.
“People will continue to get the health care they need. The Labour Board has robust processes in place to thoughtfully set what constitutes an essential service.”
Osborne said the negotiations are important and sensitive, and the government wants to give the Health Employers Association and the Nurses Bargaining Association some space.
Gear said the two sides remain “significantly” apart in reaching a new deal.
The union said job action — if it were to happen — could take the form of anything from an overtime ban to a large-scale withdrawal of services, excluding those that are designated as essential.
Jim Gould, the union’s chief negotiator, said in a statement that nurses have reached a point where they want to shine a light on crowded hospitals and understaffed facilities.
Before reaching the tentative deal that was rejected, nurses had voted 98.2 per cent in favour of authorizing strike action in their labour dispute with the province.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2026.
By Chuck Chiang | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.