A union tug-of-war over licensed practical nurses has moved to the provincial Labour Relations Board, which is weighing submissions in the latest stage of a battle that has been brewing for months.
Two unions are vying to represent LPNs, who have taken on a more prominent role over the past decade as health authorities grapple with rising costs and widespread nursing shortages.
The Hospital Employees' Union is fighting to hang on to LPNs in the face of a raid by the British Columbia Nurses' Union. The BCNU represents registered nurses and has been accused in the past of trying to block the expanding role of licensed practical nurses.
"I think it's about control," HEU business manager Judy Darcy said in an interview. "BCNU has been unsuccessful in restricting what they [LPNs]are able to do, and we believe this is about BCNU trying to control and restrict by other means."
The BCNU says its campaign was sparked by lobbying from LPNs.
"The driver has been the increasing number of LPNs who have been approaching us to change unions," BCNU president Debra McPherson said yesterday, adding that "thousands" of LPNs have signed on as associate members since the BCNU began offering that option last summer.
That response was enough to persuade the BCNU to take its case in November to the Labour Relations Board, which will determine whether the BCNU has collected enough memberships to force a vote.
It's not known when that decision, which involves thousands of workers in multiple regions, will be made.
Over the past decade, LPNs in B.C. have taken on expanded roles, including shifts in operating and emergency rooms and management roles in long-term care facilities.
Those shifts have sometimes resulted in conflicts between LPNs and RNs, who have more training and receive higher wages.
In B.C., LPNs take a one-year course and receive an average starting salary of just under $25 an hour. The starting wage for RNs, who have a four-year degree, is about $29 an hour.
LPNs are seeking higher wages to go along with their expanded role.
"They are being treated, by the government and by employers, as a significant part of the solution to the nursing shortage in the province, but are not being appropriately compensated for it," Ms. Darcy said.
The scrap over LPNs is taking place as bargaining is under way for thousands of health-care workers in the province.
HEU is the lead negotiator for a collective agreement that covers about 40,000 employees and expires at the end of March.
There are an estimated 5,000 LPNs in B.C. The BCNU represents about 32,000 nurses and health-care workers.
The BCNU raid reflects not only the expanding role of LPNs but the lingering impact of Bill 29, University of British Columbia labour professor Mark Thompson said yesterday. That 2002 legislation featured wage cuts that affected HEU members, including LPNs. "Some of the LPNs are miffed at their union because when the government forced cuts, they [LPNs]took them along with everybody else."