The Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ) announced Friday that it rejected the offer submitted by Quebec last Thursday, which, according to it, requires “even more flexibility.” The union is therefore encouraging its members to implement new pressure tactics.
“With its stubbornness, the government is leaving us with no other option than to implement more drastic measures,” said FIQ President Julie Bouchard. The union organization will therefore ask its members to refuse to work overtime starting September 19.
“Behind the mask of improvements, the so-called proposals submitted by [la présidente du Conseil du trésor]Sonia LeBel, on August 29, which are in reality nothing more than rehashing, only aggravate an already intolerable situation. They demand even greater flexibility than that massively rejected by healthcare professionals last April,” the FIQ argued in a press release.
Last Thursday, Mme LeBel had said that he had found “a different path” to achieve his flexibility objectives, without providing further details on the subject. The Legault government wants healthcare professionals to be more mobile in the network in order to meet needs, but they fear being moved from one place to another without having a say.
On Friday, the President of the Treasury Board said she was “shocked to hear Ms.me Bouchard in the public square while we are asked for the negotiation to take place at the table.
“That being said, it is false to say that the government wants to increase travel. It is irresponsible to scare the population when our goal is to provide better care with better organization of work in hospitals. And this, always with adequate training and on a voluntary basis,” added Sonia LeBel.
Since March 31, 2023, the collective agreement of the FIQ, which represents 80,000 nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, has expired.