B.C. nurses rally for workplace safety and staffing reforms as contract negotiations set to begin [Video]

Hundreds of nurses rallied in Vancouver on Thursday, calling for better working conditions, increased staffing, and safer workplaces, as negotiations for a new contract with B.C.’s health employers are about to begin.

The rally, organized by the B.C. Nurses’ Union (BCNU) saw nurses from across the province march through downtown streets and gather outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, where union president Adriane Gear highlighted the challenges facing nurses.

“Many are leaving due to the working conditions,” she told CBC News.

Gear says violence in health-care settings has reached alarming levels. 

WATCH | Nurses protest in downtown Vancouver: More than 200 nurses rallied in Vancouver on Thursday as the province deals with ongoing ER closures. As Meera Bains reports, the B.C. Nurses Union says reforms are needed to help deal with workplace violence and critical staffing shortages.

On average, 26 nurses a month in B.C. suffer a violent injury at work, according to the union.

“There are so …