Today, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) announced that it will re-admit the BC Nurses Union (BCNU) as a member organization, more than a decade after it left CFNU during its raiding activities in British Columbia.
The BCNU raid is a dark chapter in the history of B.C.’s labour movement. Over a number of years, the BCNU’s divisive raid targeted thousands of members of the Hospital Employees’ Union and other unions.
Our labour movement is at its strongest and most effective when it is united, working in tandem to secure a higher standard of living and greater rights for workers, and focused on bringing the benefits of union membership to unorganized workers.
The BCNU raid undermined solidarity on the front lines of health care, and at a time when the right-wing anti-labour BC Liberal government of Gordon Campbell had targeted the HEU membership with massive privatization, thousands of layoffs, and wage cuts. Defending the union against this raid required a massive diversion of resources.
BCNU’s raid on HEU and other unions was roundly condemned by the labour movement. And for more than a decade, they have been barred from participation in the BC Federation of Labour (BCFL), the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and local labour councils.
BCNU has not taken accountability for its actions and the harm they have caused to the labour movement in B.C., and to our union. Without accountability, we expect that the BCNU will continue to face sanctions and we expect that CFNU will also face those sanctions if they re-admit BCNU as a member organization.
HEU will continue to work with its national union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and with the BC Federation of Labour, to ensure that the provisions against raiding in the CLC’s constitution continue to be enforced.