VICTORIA – Special mediators have been appointed to help settle the British Columbia nurses’ dispute but the union says its members are not backing off from their plans to expand job actions to Vancouver Island. 

B-C-N-U president Adriane Gear says she welcomes the appointment of Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers to work with the parties for 10 days to help resolve the dispute, which has seen picket lines go up in Vancouver and Surrey.

Ready has a long history of troubleshooting some of the most fractious disputes, and Gear says she will recommend to the union’s board to proceed with mediation.

However, she says nurses will push on with plans to put up picket lines on Vancouver Island starting Sunday in Victoria before they expand to Nanaimo on Monday.

Gear says the issue facing nurses such as working conditions, understaffing and safety require measures that go beyond money, and the province won’t be able to fill thousands of vacancies unless it addresses those systemic problems. 

Premier David Eby first announced mediation at an unrelated news conference in Prince George today, saying the strike has drawn attention to issues such as working conditions and safety for nurses. 

He says that while government has taken steps to try to mitigate some of those pressures, there are still issues that need to be addressed.