VANCOUVER - B.C. nurses will get a six per cent pay increase over the next two years as part of a contract extension negotiated with the provincial government.
The pay boost for 30,000 members of the B.C. Nurses Union comes on top of a 4.2 per cent increase already set to take effect in April.
The deal extends the current contract with the union by 24 months and provides a three per cent hourly wage increase in each of 2010 and 2011.
However, both the union and the government prefer to call the wage increase a "labour market adjustment".
The union says it recognizes the need to retain and recruit nurses in the middle of an international nursing shortage.
The union and the government have also agreed to set up a new committee that will address such issues as workload, upgrading nurses' skills and workplace safety.
