B.C. Nurses’ Union boots boss; Duteil replaced by Sorensen
In a precedent-setting move, the B.C. Nurses’ Union has ousted its beleaguered president, Gayle Duteil, after receiving a confidential report by arbitrators Vince Ready and Judy Korbin. Christine Sorensen, who had been acting in the role since late last fall, is now president of the 47,000-member union and will remain in the position until the next election in 2020.
Duteil had been placed on paid administrative leave last fall after several allegations about improper conduct during the union’s election campaign last spring. She was acclaimed in that election for a second three-year term. But days after, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and was barred from going back to work when her treatment ended because of multiple allegations that led to investigations and litigation.
The union’s governing council took a unanimous vote of nonconfidence in Duteil just over a week ago, the effect of which was that Duteil ceased being a member in good standing and was thus ineligible to remain in office. During an in camera session with more than 500 delegates to the union’s annual convention in Vancouver last week, the news of Duteil’s ousting was announced. Union CEO Umar Sheikh gave BCNU members a lengthy briefing about the process that led to the council’s decision. Duteil is no longer entitled to hold office, but remains a dues-paying union member and can still work as a nurse.
Duteil said in an email she could not comment for this story, but in late March she told Postmedia that she believed she would be exonerated by Ready and Korbin. The pair of arbitrators interviewed dozens of individuals and Sheikh said while he cannot share details of their report, the end result was certainly a precedent.
A former president of the powerful union, Cathy Ferguson, resigned several years ago, he said, before a no-confidence vote. But Sheikh is not aware of a BCNU president ever being effectively fired.
Sheikh said under union bylaws, Duteil still has an avenue of appeal and is involved in other litigation against the union, including a human rights tribunal and an appeal of a Labour Relations Board decision that resulted in a $75,000 fine against the union related to Duteil’s election campaign actions.
In an internal communication, the union told nurses that the February 2018 decision by arbitrator Tom Hodges found Duteil had “engaged in communications with the union’s Provincial Nominations Committee during the BCNU’s 2017 Provincial Election in a manner that amounted to a flagrant attempt to threaten, interfere with and manipulate the Committee’s processes.”
Sheikh said while litigation may go on for another year or more, “our hope is that it won’t.”
“We are looking forward to collective bargaining. Our focus is no longer on internal matters,” he said, referring to years of strife within the BCNU.
The union has taken some unusual action to address ongoing security fears in hospitals. In a recently started pilot project, the union has provided $150,000 toward the costs of hiring two more security guards for the emergency department at Kelowna General Hospital because of incidents of assaults against nurses across B.C.
“We were inundated with complaints and concerns from nurses who feel unsafe at work. The employer (Interior Health) kept arguing that they had to do a business case first and we got tired of waiting, so we said we’ll pay for one year,” Sheikh said.
Quantitative and qualitative surveys done before and after the oneyear pilot should show whether fears of violence against nurses, and actual violence, has been reduced.
“At the end of the day, if we can show that people feel safer, the health authority will have to keep the guards in place at their expense,” Sheikh said.
The union is also involved in security-improvement initiatives at other hospitals and facilities across the province.
“What these professionals have in common with nurses is the routine exposure to trauma in the course of their jobs,” Sorensen said in a prepared statement, noting the legislation “discriminates against those point-of-care nurses who are psychologically impacted from providing care in traumatic situations taking place in acute, residential and community-based settings.”
The union is campaigning to have the government amend the legislation to include nurses. According to the union, in 2016, nurses accounted for nearly 12 per cent of all mental-disorder claims and more than 10 per cent of all claims registered for PTSD.
In 2016, 76 nurses registered claims for PTSD, but Sorensen said WorkSafe frequently denies claims “on the grounds that it resulted from exposure to trauma that is considered normal in their line of work.”
We are looking forward to collective bargaining. Our focus is no longer on internal matters.