As the summer holidays begin, the FIQ has reached a deadlock in its negotiations with Quebec and is considering stepping up its pressure tactics in the near future.
The Treasury Board, for its part, assures that there is no impasse, although the Interprofessional Health Federation has still not succeeded in renewing its collective agreements, after 500 days.
During a meeting with the press on Monday in Montreal, the president of the FIQ, Julie Bouchard, reiterated that the negotiations are “at an impasse” and that they are no longer moving forward, blocked as they are on the issue of the expected mobility of nurses.
Healthcare facility managers want to be able to move nurses from unit to unit, or even facility to meet needs. Nurses see this as a refusal to recognize their expertise and a way of treating them as interchangeable pawns.
Faced with what it considers to be a blockage, the FIQ will soon discuss with its delegates a toughening of pressure tactics. It already has a strike mandate, which is still in force. Its members have already walked out for a few days, in November and December 2023.
“Is that the first thing we’ll do? No. We have other means of pressure that are planned,” she replied, without wanting to elaborate further. The FIQ says it is nevertheless ready to go that far, if necessary.
The Treasury Board, for its part, reiterates that “the status quo is not an option in order to provide the health care to which the population is entitled.” It points out that it has already reached an agreement with the other union organizations.