The Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) announced early Thursday evening that it had reached an agreement with the Legault government earlier in the day to allow certain technicians and professionals to join the public flying team (ÉVP) that is to be deployed in the health network in the Côte-Nord, Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Outaouais regions, which are facing a shortage of manpower.
Thus, for each day worked, Quebec will pay a lump sum of $100 to each member of the EVP, in addition to paying them compensation covering their meal and accommodation costs.
Although it is a gain, the union calls the offer “disappointing” and remains skeptical about the results of this bonus on the recruitment of new staff, we can read in a press release.
“Without wishing to sound like a bird of ill omen, I do not think that this agreement will allow us to mobilize the personnel we need to lend a hand in the targeted regions,” noted Sébastien Pitre, political officer responsible for the file at the APTS.
“Would you be willing to relocate overnight, leaving your wife and children behind without knowing whether it’s for two weeks or four months, all for a measly extra $100 a day?” he continued.
The APTS claims to have signed this agreement so as not to “obstruct the deployment of the EVP”, even if it “risks depriving the regions concerned of the expertise and experience of seasoned workers in social programs”.
“As things stand, that means signing a provisional agreement, monitoring its impact and being ready to sit down again when the government realizes that it cannot, once and for all, count on the self-sacrifice of people who work in health and social services,” explained Mr. Pitre.
The union wants healthcare workers who work in the private sector to be integrated into the public network to help resolve the crisis.
“This would allow the colossal sums currently paid to these companies to be reinvested in the public health and social services network, in particular by improving working and practice conditions,” suggests Mr. Pitre, who believes that the government must quickly and in the long term resolve the problem of attracting and retaining health and social services personnel.
“We can never say it enough: it is not by hastily putting a bandage on an infected wound that we will cure it,” he illustrated.
In mid-July, the Health and Social Services Federation (FSSS-CSN) reached a similar agreement with the government for its members.
Last week, The duty reported that the EVP had 36 workers, but only ten had already been deployed to the targeted regions.