The Quebec government owes more than two billion dollars in bonuses and salary increases to professionals in the health network, denounced Monday a coalition of eight unions.
The labor organizations also criticize Quebec for having waived interest payments on the sums due, even though it has signed agreements providing for them.
The unions calculate that their members expect amounts of $1.28 billion resulting from the signing of collective agreements and $1.15 billion due to the settlement of pay equity complaints. In total, the outstanding amounts would therefore be 2.43 billion.
As wrote The duty last week, some professionals such as audiologists or speech therapists alone expect payments of $40,000 — or even $52,000 — according to estimates from various unions. These amounts come from the signing of pay equity complaint settlements.
“These complaints date from 2010 and 2015. It is simply unacceptable and revolting, not only for the women to whom these sums are owed, but for all women in Quebec,” wrote the FSSS-CSN, the FSQ-CSQ on Wednesday. , the FIQ, the SQEES-FTQ, the SCFP, the APTS, the FP-CSN and the SPGQ.
The unions also criticize the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, for having postponed the schedule for payments resulting from the signing of collective agreements and the introduction of bonuses by ministerial decrees. “Last Friday, representatives of the [ministère de la Santé] presented a new payment schedule, incomplete and imprecise, extending until March 23,” they lamented.
Minister Dubé himself admitted last week that his department was unable to meet the deadlines to which the government has committed itself. “I promised to settle this quickly. I can well understand that our computer systems are obsolete and I was given the right reasons at the department. Of course, there have been a lot of changes: different bonuses, the new collective agreement. But that’s not excusable. I’m telling you, I’m meeting them again tomorrow, and I’m embarrassed,” he said on the eve of a meeting with the unions.
The delays in payment to the ministry are explained by “the fact that the pay systems are not configured to allow the payment of these new measures”, explained last week the spokesperson Marjorie Larouche. “In addition, certain measures provided for in the new collective agreements involve retroactivity over several years, which complicates the exercise. »
The logistical troubles of the ministry, on which The duty had lifted the veil in November, resulted in “intensive work”, had assured the spokesperson.