This text is part of the special section Unionism
In 20 years of action on the ground, the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS) can pride itself on having rolled up its sleeves year after year: two local negotiations, five national negotiations, two common fronts and two reforms, soon three, of the health network. All this was possible thanks to a common desire of technicians and health professionals to want to decide their own future, according to Robert Comeau, president of the union. “For me, that’s the great accomplishment of the APTS, this desire to want to be apart from the union centers,” he says.
The union was also born out of a need, recalls Mr. Comeau. In March 2004, the Centrale of Health Professionals merged with the Professional Association of Medical Technologists of Quebec to form the APTS, which then brought together 15,000 members. The Charest government has just adopted two bills that completely transform the health and social services network. One creates new establishments, the CSSS, and the other creates new bargaining units by reducing the number of categories of unionized staff to four per establishment. “It forced the union organizations to reposition themselves, then to merge among themselves and to redefine their community of interests,” explains the president. What followed was a long period of marauding for the brand new union.
In the fall of the same year, the APTS had to undertake local negotiations, a first test for the brand new union. The result is convincing. Out of 116 collective agreements, 95 are concluded by negotiation, around twenty by recourse to a mediator and only one by arbitrary decision, in favor of the union. Ten years pass and the union doubles its membership. In 2015, other reforms occurred. This time, it is the Couillard government which abolishes the regional agencies to create the CISSS and the CIUSSS. Another period of raiding has begun for the APTS which will be accredited in 20 of the 21 new establishments and will represent 88% of category 4 employees, professional technicians in health and social services. Other collective agreement negotiations are coming quickly, they will be long and laborious, but will bring a majority of success.
Salary equity
For Robert Comeau, there is no doubt that the main gain that the APTS has won for its members is pay equity. The majority of its members are women. “When the first agreement, pay equity, was adopted, it was truly an important union victory. Not only for the APTS, but for women in general,” he believes. Even today, he describes the APTS as an entity that defends social issues, reflecting the concerns of its members, such as place of women in society and cultural and sexual diversity.
When he talks about the future, Robert Comeau says he hopes that the union will be able to maintain its ability to stay close to its members, in an increasingly large group. “We, in our way of doing things, present our vision of things and we are close to our members, we are in their reality and we consult them,” he specifies, adding that the union does not include many levels, which facilitates the transmission of messages.
The challenges ahead
The APTS has just come out of collective agreement renewal negotiations. She is already preparing for the next challenges. And there is already a major one being prepared on the way, with a new reform of the health system by Minister Christian Dubé. The employer, Santé Québec, will bring together the CISSS and CIUSSS. For the unions too, this means change. Union accreditations will be merged and a single seniority list will be established, to facilitate the mobility of staff from one region to another. “Our objective will be to survive, then to keep this alternative to the central unions, with professional unionism focused on the recognition of professions, labor relations and the recognition of professional health technicians, who greatly need it,” underlines Mr. Comeau.
“When Santé Québec is fully implemented, the APTS will be present in two main employment categories. So that means two votes for our members. Either we lose or we win,” he announces. But he says he is confident, in particular because the members are informed, according to him. Despite all its gains in 20 years of life, the APTS does not take its members for granted, adds the president.
His wish for the coming years of the APTS? “Being able to find our common points, always in the well-being of our members. We have this ability to work inter-union, and it is a great strength that we have managed to develop,” he says. Robert Comeau adds that he always keeps in mind the interests and possible alliances to ensure that union members have a greater balance of power and a voice that is more audible during future negotiations.
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