Some things just need to be said...

Friday, April 15, 2005

"We want the public to be aware of these cuts ..."

BC's nurses are pretty upset with the state of Health care in this Province and are saying so with a leaflet they are distributing.

Peggy Eburne a nurse in Port Coquitlam told 24 Hours the situation in hospitals is dire...
"We have patients in the hallways. What kind of care is this? Every nurse wants to give the best care possible and it's no longer possible."

"Patients have been left sitting for hours in waiting rooms in agony, with nowhere else to go for help," Leckovic said. "We can relate this directly to the closure of beds." - Burnaby Hospital nurse Melanie Leckovic, 24 Hours April 15, 2005

The Campbell Liberals have managed to motivate two large professional groups to work to defeat them in the BC Nurses Union and the BC Teachers Federation (BCTF). What many people won't know is that in the past these two unions while supportive of NDP policies have been reluctant to enter the political battle during an election.

In the case of the BCTF, they have flirted with joining the BC Federation of Labour for years, always falling short until the Campbell Liberals ripped up their contract. Campbell's legislation has resulted in cash strapped schools, larger class sizes, fewer teachers and closed schools. Campbell inadvertantly has made organized labour stronger as a result. BCTF leadership has a history of being political and now its membership are into it in a big way.

When you have both teachers and nurses mad at you in huge numbers you have accomplished something no other Premier has since 1983 when Bill Bennett brought the BC to the brink of a general strike. Campbell's mean spirited and onesided exercise of governing has resulted in worsening the state of health care and education.

Nurses and teachers aint gonna take it!

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