Northern Health will not appeal a decision by the B.C. Labour Relations Board, which ordered reparations to employees who lost their jobs when a steam boiler at the Prince Rupert hospital was decommissioned.
Five members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 882 lost their jobs when the 42-year-old boiler was replaced by an electrical system.
Northern Health director of communications Steve Raper said discussions with the union will take place in short order to discuss appropriate remedies and he expects the process will move quickly.
Labour relations board vice-chair Ritu Mahil ruled last month that the health agency "was motivated, at least in part, by anti-union animus in designing and approving the technological change to the boiler system at the hospital."
The union members and management had been at odds in the years leading up to the decision to shut the boiler down and the union contended the decision was made to get rid of its members. Northern Health contended it had a solid business case to make the change, without factoring in the labour issues but Mahil rejected that argument.
