(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

An anti-vax Interior Health nurse has lost a legal challenge against her union after she was fired for not getting vaccinated.

According to an Aug. 3 BC Labour Relations Board decision, registered nurse Michelle Jenkins argued her union wasn't moving fast enough in fighting for her to get her job back.

Jenkins argued the BC Nurses' Union had acted in bad faith and was "discriminatory."

The decision says in October 2021 Interior Health told Jenkins she needed to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as per the province's public health order.

However, she didn't get vaccinated and 10 days later was put on unpaid leave.

Two months later she was fired from her $80,000-a-year job for failing to comply with the vaccination requirement.

Jenkins' union then said it would go to bat for her.

However, 18 months later, little has happened.

In May 2022, six months after she was fired, the Nurses' Union told Jenkins it was "conducting an analysis" of the collective agreement before it decided how to move forward.

"Please be assured the Union (is) meeting its legal obligations to you under the BC Labour Code. Unfortunately, there is no current estimate of how long this process will take," the Union told Jenkins in August 2022.

Months later in December 2022, the Nurses' Union told her it was looking at an industry-wide application dispute related to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies. 

However, six months later it appears the Union sill hadn't moved forward.

"There is no evidence to support BC Nurses' Union's claim that an Industrial Wide Application Dispute has actually been filed," Jenkins says in the decision.

READ MORE: Anti-vaxxer loses fight with union after being fired by Interior Health

Jenkins argued the Union had breached its duty of fair representation by not acting quickly enough after she got canned.

However, the Labour Board dismissed her argument.

The Labour Board references another group of nurses who have made the same argument and lost.

The board says that while it appreciates that Jenkins would like the union to "move more quickly" she hasn't followed the steps for the union’s internal appeal procedure. 

READ MORE: Christian anti-vaxxers win legal case against a B.C. health authority

"The union has not completed representing (Jenkins) in relation to the grievance," the Labour Board said before dismissing the application. "It is apparent from the application that the grievance remains outstanding, and the union continues to pursue (it)."

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