Why do nurses in our province earn more than their colleagues across the country, while teachers make less? The question bears asking, because B.C.鈥檚 nurses are about to sit down at the negotiating table while teachers just left it.
We know where the first set of talks ended up. After a prolonged strike, the teachers went back to work on what were, essentially, the government鈥檚 terms. Taking forgone pay and benefits into account, it鈥檚 possible they even lost money.
It鈥檚 impossible to say how the nurses will make out, but they can hardly do worse. Indeed, it鈥檚 a safe bet they鈥檒l do better.
The numbers tell the tale. The average income of a registered nurse in B.C. stands at, or close to, the top in national rankings. Nurses in our province also have the shortest regular work week.
In contrast, by some estimates, teaching salaries in B.C. rank dead last in Canada.
Why the difference? The requirements are comparable 鈥� each profession requires an undergraduate degree plus on-the-job training.
Both are pressure-filled careers with significant personal responsibility and often difficult working conditions.
It鈥檚 true there is an oversupply of teachers in B.C. as school enrolments continue to decline. But the same applies across the country.
Likewise, there is a nursing shortage here, but again, that鈥檚 the case in every province.
In other words, supply and demand don鈥檛 explain why B.C.鈥檚 nurses do so well on the national scale while our teachers do so poorly.
Nor is the reason to be found in the issues at stake. Most of the contentious matters at both bargaining tables are identical: salary, work conditions and staffing levels.
While a number of factors might be involved, it鈥檚 difficult to avoid the conclusion that bargaining strategies play a part.
Although both groups have had prolonged and bitter differences with government, overall, the B.C. Nurses鈥� Union leans toward a less-confrontational approach. Somehow, the nurses have managed to ground their complaints in terms the employer 鈥� and the public 鈥� can accept.
To an extent, that鈥檚 because patient outcomes are directly affected by the amount of nursing care available. There is a feel of common sense to this argument.
By comparison, there is less powerful evidence that class size 鈥� within reasonable limits 鈥� determines how much children learn.
But that鈥檚 not the whole story. If the nurses have a stronger case, they are also better advocates. Their leadership has learned how to generate a sympathetic image. They understand that goals are best achieved incrementally, rather than in one giant leap.
Contrast that with the B.C. Teachers鈥� Federation鈥檚 strategy this summer. The union went into the talks in a combative mood, with salary demands that appeared, in the circumstances, unattainable. They made it easy for the government to say no.
But if negotiating style is important, why haven鈥檛 teachers adapted?
The answer might lie in the way each group finds its leaders.
Nurses as a whole elect the BCNU executive. The entire membership votes.
Teachers, on the other hand, select regional representatives to speak for them, and only they have a voice when the leadership is chosen.
This may explain the BCTF鈥檚 approach to bargaining. Small, closely aligned voting blocs are more likely to favour aggressive leadership than the members at large.
Nevertheless, the next few months will be challenging for nurses. The government promised to increase staffing levels in the last round of negotiations and appears to have come up short.
How the BCNU reacts will show which model of bargaining 鈥� confrontation or incremental gain 鈥� works best. If past performance is a guide, a compromise will be found. At least, we hope so.
