With the strongest mandate in their history, B.C. nurses went on strike for the first time in a generation. Faced with ER closures, thousands of nursing positions left vacant, and patients being treated in hospital hallways, this was a fight that went beyond wages and benefits.
Everything was in the nurses’ favour. They were striking in the middle of the World Cup for maximum impact, public support was high, and every major union had declared their support. The bosses knew what kind of threat the nurses posed, as the more than 1,400 reports of intimidation against the nurses can attest to. Still, not even the risk of losing their licenses could bring down the nurses’ fighting spirit.
But suddenly, on July 14, the union executives pulled the picket lines down. Then, just ten days later, they ended the strike entirely—all without a vote from their membership. Shortly after, they revealed the real reason for ending the strike: behind closed doors, they had agreed to submit the nurses’ contract to binding arbitration.
As more details have come out, it’s been revealed that no negotiation had taken place behind those doors. Instead, the NDP government and their “impartial” mediators told the union leadership that it was “impossible” to meet their demands—and if the union did not willingly accept binding arbitration, the B.C. NDP would “end the dispute by legislation.” Since the union leadership was not willing to defy the threatened back-to-work legislation, they accepted binding arbitration.
The B.C. NDP’s behaviour in these negotiations is especially scandalous considering it is coming from a so-called working class party. But this is par for the course for a party that has fully accepted the task of managing capitalism for the bosses. As the massive provincial debt continues to grow, the ruling class is demanding that the bill be paid by the workers. Meanwhile, nurses are asking for a 36 per cent wage increase over four years. This is unacceptable for the B.C. NDP, as many public-sector union contracts contain what are called “me-too” clauses. This means that their contracts would reflect the highest wage increases given to other public-sector unions, even if they already have a contract. Conceding to the nurses’ demands would mean the B.C. NDP would have to provide the same increases to over 100,000 public sector workers, amounting to billions of dollars of increased spending.
There is an irreconcilable opposition between the demands of workers, struggling against the cost-of-living crisis, and those of the ruling class, who are trying to solve the debt crisis on the backs of public-sector workers. This means the only path forward for workers is through a militant fight.
But that requires being ready to defy back-to-work legislation, as is inevitably imposed by the government. Capitulating at the first threat of legislation is an approach that can only lead to further defeats for the labour movement. The bosses are dead set on making the workers pay for the crisis of their system. Giving up now will only convince the ruling class to demand even more concessions from workers in the future.
And there is a tremendous fighting spirit amongst rank-and-file members, who are not ready to give up so easily. This is why the union executives decided to end the strike without consulting their members: they knew they would have refused. Members should demand that any decision to pull down picket lines, submit to binding arbitration, or otherwise end a strike can only be made with a vote of the membership itself.
The ruling class is waging a one-sided class war against the workers. But workers are showing they are eager to fight back. If the nurses’ strike had continued, it could have rallied support and drawn in other sectors of the working class, who are all suffering under the cost-of-living crisis in the province. It is time the union leadership stop standing in the way of their own members.
