A thousand non-urgent operations postponed in Quebec

The strike by health network employees is paralyzing Quebec’s operating rooms, according to the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé. “Over two to three days, we will lose around 1,000 non-urgent operations,” he said on Wednesday.

The Quebec Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ), which represents 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, began a two-day walkout on Wednesday. Its president, Julie Bouchard, took the opportunity to announce two other days of strikes, on November 23 and 24.

According to Mr. Dubé, these pressure tactics “come at a very bad time”. “There is a right for union members to strike. I think we have to respect that,” he agreed in the press scrum. “But fortunately we have our private clinics to be able to carry out operations, because it would be much more difficult than that. »

“I want to tell people to encourage each other. It’s a difficult two or three days to get through,” he continued.

In the absence of an agreement with the Treasury Board, the FIQ went on strike Wednesday and Thursday in Quebec health establishments. As this is a strike in the care sector, essential services are planned.

For example, in the operating room, 70% of services must be provided during the strike; in emergency rooms and intensive care units, 100%; in CHSLDs, 90%.

The FIQ responded to Minister Dubé on the social network X on Wednesday. “There are thousands of surgeries canceled every day due to lack of staff, due to poor working conditions. And you don’t talk about that,” the union wrote.

Towards an unlimited general strike?

To justify the decision to add two days of strike at the end of the month, the president of the FIQ said Wednesday morning that “we must continue to put pressure on the government.” The prospect of an indefinite general strike is very real.

“If it comes to that, it will come to that. [Les membres] are ready, they are mobilized, they are determined,” she insisted during a press scrum in front of the Enfant-Jésus hospital in Quebec.

Tuesday, as he tabled his economic update, Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard suggested that there was no longer any room for maneuver in the state’s coffers to negotiate with the public sector. . “Any additional expenditure will require borrowing,” he told the media.

“Powder in the eyes”, according to Julie Bouchard. “In 2025-2026, the government believes there will be surpluses. But on the other hand, we’re going back to elections in 2026. So, when it’s time to negotiate with us, we don’t have any money, but when we go to elections, oh, there’s going to be surpluses ! » she quipped, her voice buried by the horns and the cries of the strikers.

Better conditions too

Strikers met Wednesday in front of hospitals in Montreal made the same speech at Duty during picketing sessions. Many recalled the 30% salary increase granted to Quebec MPs and the refusal of Sûreté du Québec police officers to sign an agreement providing for a 21% salary increase over five years.

“They never have money for us, but they have money for all kinds of things,” said, to the sound of trumpets and horns, Mélodie Leclerc, nurse at Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital.

Beyond a higher salary, she wants better working conditions, such as a “safe ratio of the number of patients per nurse”. “We never take a break,” she says. “We can’t manage to do our things without cutting our meal times and our breaks. »

Isabelle also works “with her paws in her butt”. She opposes Quebec’s request to move employees to other units based on the employer’s needs. “What you need to know is that if you work in pediatrics and we send you to cardiology, we understand that it’s not the same knowledge that we need,” she says. .

The FIQ collective agreement expired on March 31, like that of employees grouped in the Inter-union Common Front.

With François Messier and The Canadian Press

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