THE Health Employers Association (HEABC) has reached a tentative agreement with members of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) under the Province’s Shared Recovery Mandate, the Province announced on Friday night.

The NBA Provincial Collective Agreement covers approximately 51,500 registered, psychiatric and licensed practical nurses in B.C. The majority of the nurses in the NBA are represented by the BC Nurses’ Union, and by the Health Sciences Association, the Union of Psychiatric Nurses, the Hospital Employees’ Union, and the British Columbia General Employees’ Union. Nurses work predominantly in hospitals, but also in long-term care, community and public health, home support and mental health throughout the province.

Negotiations under the Shared Recovery Mandate support government’s key priorities to improve public services and the health-care system, while supporting the Province’s continued economic recovery for all.

These negotiations also included agreement on significant policy-based initiatives as part of the Ministry of Health’s overarching Health Human Resource Strategy. Specific details about the agreement will be available after the ratification process is completed by the parties.

More than 500,000 people work across the provincial public sector in the core public service, at Crown corporations, in health, community social services, kindergarten-to-Grade 12 public education, and at post-secondary institutions and research universities.

Of those people, approximately 393,000 are unionized employees paid under collective agreements or professionals paid through negotiated compensation agreements.