This text is part of the special Syndicalism booklet
The Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS) hopes to convince the CAQ government to resist the siren song of the private sector in the health system and to make jobs in this sector more attractive.
Last September, the APTS became a full member of the Common Front, alongside the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN), the Central Trade Unions of Quebec (CSQ) and the Federation of Quebec Workers ( FTQ). A first for the APTS, which will allow the Common Front to represent more than 420,000 employees.
“These members experience the same problems and, often, the same distress in the education and health and social services sectors. So, it is important to do everything possible to combine their strengths in the negotiations that will begin soon,” said APTS president Robert Comeau.
True, there is strength in numbers, but governments generally try to divide and conquer in major public sector collective bargaining. Will the arrival of a fourth player in the Common Front complicate its cohesion and unity? “I don’t think so,” replies Robert Comeau. We really share a lot of concerns and demands and we are united, both to improve the conditions of practice and working conditions, but also to protect public services. »
The private side
The specter of privatization in the health sector has indeed raised its nose during the election campaign. The subject inevitably points the unions of the public sector. The one who held the post of Minister of Health and Social Services at the start of the campaign, Christian Dubé, notably mentioned the arrival of private mini-hospitals. He had already confirmed last March his desire to give more space to the private sector in his reform of the health system.
The president of the APTS is sorry to see Christian Dubé talking about the creation of a more extensive private network, rather than presenting solutions to improve the efficiency and attractiveness of the public network. He points out that the latter is experiencing major problems attracting and retaining manpower. “We would like to hear Mr. Dubé explain how he intends to improve the practice and working conditions to make this network more attractive, rather than hearing him praise the use of companies whose main objective is to make profits,” laments he.
Robert Comeau estimates that the public health and social services network has been gradually suffocated by numerous episodes of cutbacks over the past 25 years. Its current underfunding would prevent it, according to him, from implementing internal solutions to improve it. The use of the private sector – supposed to help the public network by relieving it of certain tasks – would rather have the effect of creating incongruous situations.
He gives the example of medical imaging, where recourse to the private sector is massive. “Public hospitals have very expensive devices, but they are often only used between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., illustrates Robert Comeau. So we pay for two networks: one that serves to enrich private doctors and another that sometimes only works at 33% of its capacity. It’s absurd. »
Crossroads
The president of the APTS is convinced that Quebec finds itself at a crossroads and that it will have to choose between reinvesting and strengthening its public network or opening the door to two-tier medicine, by bringing the private sector into the fold . Of course, he favors the first way which, according to him, goes largely through an improvement in working conditions, in order to increase the attractiveness of these jobs and, thus, to replenish the ranks.
Still, the upcoming negotiations to renew the collective agreements in the public sector promise to be anything but simple. The government is starting a new mandate, well supported by an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly. He can therefore consider that he has free rein to make life difficult for the unions.
“It is something to be feared. But before the elections, we still felt a desire on the part of Christian Dubé to improve relations between the government and us, says Robert Comeau. I am optimistic by nature, so I give the chance to the runner. It’s up to him to show that he really wants to support the public network and solve the problems that are undermining it. »
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.