End of use of agencies | A “public flying team” will be dispatched to the region

(Quebec) Quebec and the unions are creating a “public flying team” of nurses and beneficiary attendants who will lend a helping hand first on the North Shore, then in Abitibi-Témiscamingue where the end of recourse to agencies causes service reductions.

The Legault government is joining forces with the Confederation of National Unions (CSN) and the Federation of Workers of Quebec (FTQ) to create a “public flying team” which will be dispatched to remote regions to alleviate the labor shortage. health work.

The North Shore will first be prioritized due to the severity of the crisis, then Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which is also hard hit by the reduction in the use of independent labor. The entry into force of a mammoth contract capping the rates offered to employment agency employees had the effect of dissuading dozens of private sector workers from moving there.

Significant service reductions were announced earlier this week.

The Quebec Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ) is not part of the agreement since the nurses’ union is still negotiating the renewal of its collective agreements. Furthermore, the creation of this flying team is made possible under the new government tool which allows voluntary mobility of staff. Bonuses will be offered to workers who raise their hands.

“Everything will apply to the signing of collective agreements which remains a priority,” recalled the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) in a press release. Job offers “will be posted soon”. Interested candidates can send their CV to [email protected]

“This will be a more than advantageous alternative for staff who wish to leave independent labor companies or join the public network […] in order to contribute to its strengthening. The staff of this new team will benefit from the advantages linked to mobility which have been negotiated with the Common Front, as well as great flexibility of schedules,” writes the MSSS.

The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, spoke about X. “It is a central element of the plan to put an end to the private agencies that we activate. We want to protect services and send reinforcements to remote regions,” he said.

The CSN and the FTQ welcomed the initiative. “For us, private healthcare will never constitute a solution to be recommended. This is why we continue to campaign in favor of a truly public network, hoping that the avenues put forward today can, in the long term, be sustained,” indicated the president of the CSN, Caroline Senneville.

“For the FTQ, this is proof that the public network can meet these challenges and we will put our shoulder to the wheel to make it a success which can only serve as an example,” added Magali Picard.

For the North Shore, we hope to find around fifty workers in the coming weeks. Thursday, the region’s CISSS confirmed that it had avoided the worst by suspending the transfer of around forty patients from Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau elsewhere in Quebec.

The establishment is still looking for 36 nurses and 80 beneficiary attendants to meet future needs.

Ultimately, the new flying team will be able to move as needed.

Minister Christian Dubé had already expressed the wish to set up the equivalent of a public labor agency, which, a bit like a private agency, would count on a pool of workers capable of helping out the regions. This included a proposal from establishments in remote regions following the adoption of its law aimed at abolishing the use of private agencies.