The working conditions of health professionals must change. This is the mandate entrusted to Julie Bouchard, new president of the FIQ.
Very determined and impatient to do battle with the Legault government, Julie Bouchard was elected last December as president of the FIQ to carry the voice of its 76,000 members loud and clear. A practical nurse by training, she has worked throughout her career in hospitals, CLSCs and CHSLDs, and she has been an active activist for more than 15 years with the FIQ in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
“In 2022, work-family balance is a very important issue for me and for all healthcare professionals,” says Julie Bouchard. Being a mom myself, I understand very well all the challenges women face in the workplace. Because we are 90% women in the health network, our specific issues deserve to be respected. We must stop demanding that the healthcare professionals dedicate themselves solely to their work and must limit themselves to abusive workdays. The stereotype of the guardian angel, of the dedicated woman who sacrifices herself for the profession, must be fought vigorously, because priorities are changing within our society. Balancing work, family and personal life now ranks first for women of my generation. »
Because we are 90% women in the health network, our specific issues deserve to be respected.
The new president confirms that the issue of feminism is a priority for the FIQ. “There are still a lot of battles to be fought. We tend to think that gender equality has been achieved, but this is not the case, as we can see in healthcare settings. Women must be able to practice their profession in a healthy and fulfilling environment, where the reasonable workload will not make them sick. Remember that many women who work in the health field have children and act as caregivers, which considerably increases their responsibilities. For ten years, their working conditions have deteriorated to the point of pushing them to leave the public sector for the private sector, to simply abandon the profession or to take early retirement. “That’s not how the health network should be run,” says Julie Bouchard. On the contrary, the government should invest, plan its workforce, consult the people who work on the front line and ensure that there are enough staff in all Quebec establishments to provide quality care. . »Put an end to silenceThe FIQ’s main grievances relate to the labor shortage and the fight against compulsory overtime, the ratio of healthcare professionals to unsafe patients and the issues related to systemic racism, discrimination and bosses’ bullying. This is without taking into account the fight against omerta which reigns in the milieu and which muzzles the healthcare professionals. “We want those who are witnesses or victims of racism, sexist acts or excesses in the workplace to be supported and to have platforms to denounce them without fear of reprisal. For things to change, we must put an end to the omerta that persists in the health network. »
Julie Bouchard also points out that her union movement has been abused by the CAQ government since the start of the pandemic. “To deal with the repercussions of the ministerial decrees imposed on our members by the government, which suspend collective agreements and vacations and which impose full hours without taking into account the various realities experienced by women, we need more than ever be united and mobilized. Our voices will be raised to block the way to the adoption of measures that jeopardize our working conditions and our public health network. »
The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) is a union organization with nearly 76,000 nurses, licensed practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists working in public health establishments across Quebec. Composed of nearly 90% women, the FIQ has always adopted a feminist perspective in defending the rights of its members.
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