The general council of the Alliance of professional and technical personnel in health and social services (APTS) adopted with a strong majority of over 81% on Friday an agreement in principle reached with the government of Quebec, after long negotiations.
The APTS, which represents more than 60,000 unionized workers in the various health establishments and youth centers in the province, has been negotiating with the Quebec government for nearly two years in an attempt to renew its collective agreement. The agreement reached on Friday with the Quebec government, however, responds to many of its demands, in particular by granting salary bonuses to stakeholders who work in youth centers, who can, moreover, at their convenience, convert part of their bonus into floating holidays, up to five per year. Specialized educators, psychologists and social workers will also see their salaries increase.
“Overall, it is a good agreement for professional and technical staff in health and social services”, reacted in a press release issued on Friday by the president of the union organization, Robert Comeau. The latter nonetheless deplores the lack of measures contained in this agreement to counter the shortage of manpower in the health network, at a time when the needs in this area “are enormous”.
“I am delighted with the conclusion of this tentative agreement. I am convinced that we are proposing an agreement which will promote the retention of staff already in place, while making these jobs more attractive, ”for her part reacted the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, in a separate press release.
This agreement in principle will be put to the vote of the members of the APTS within the framework of special general assemblies which will take place in the coming weeks. The union organization is also the last in the health sector to have still not renewed its collective agreement for 2020-2023 with the government of Quebec.
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