Negotiations between the Quebec government and the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) are intensifying, according to the union. The latter maintains that the employer party now offers its members “voluntary” travel between hospitals and facilities, rather than “mandatory” as before. According to the FIQ, the same offers as those accepted by the Common Front are on the table concerning self-management of schedules and recognition of the seniority of professionals who have left the public network for the private sector.
The FIQ negotiated “all” last week with the government, according to Jérôme Rousseau, co-responsible for negotiations at the union. “Every day, we were at the table, even for long hours,” explains the person who sits there. We are working very actively on the file. There is impatience on the part of our members for the negotiation to be resolved. »
The members of the Health and Social Services Federation (FSSS-CSN) accepted the agreement in principle concluded with the government around ten days ago. Union members who voluntarily travel to a hospital other than their own will be entitled to a lump sum of $50 or $100 per day, in addition to reimbursement based on their mileage. Everyone – attendants and nurses alike – will also be able to self-manage their schedules if they wish. They will be entitled to a salary increase of 17.4% over five years, like other Common Front union members.
At the FIQ, a knot in the negotiations seems to be unraveling. The union — which represents 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists — has been saying for several weeks that the government wants to force its members to move from one facility to another. Quebec for its part repeated that the trips were “voluntary”.
“We could do a retrospective of everything that was said in the public space versus what was said at the table: there are big nuances,” says Jérôme Rousseau. For the moment, I must tell you that the speech has been harmonized between the table and the public discourse. We are on voluntary basis. »
According to the FIQ, the employer’s offer provides, as for the FSSS-CSN, to recognize up to five years of seniority to employees who have left the public network to work in placement agencies (attendants, nurses, etc.). Quebec wishes to attract this personnel in order to replenish its ranks. “It’s not necessarily seniority which, according to us, and even according to agency staff, will make them come back,” believes Jérôme Rousseau. This is why we also need to work on remuneration, workload, work-family balance. »
The question of ratios of patients per professional is “not resolved”, indicates the FIQ. “We are aware on both sides, the government and us, that it is not tomorrow morning that this can be put in place,” affirms Jérôme Rousseau. On the other hand, what are we doing now so that in five years, at the next collective agreement, there is already good progress? And so much the better if we are able to start deploying ratios in the coming years. That’s the objective. »
Jérôme Rousseau believes that “a few weeks” of negotiations are still necessary before reaching an agreement. A large gathering of FIQ members is planned in Quebec on March 16 to put pressure on the government. “Is the strike in our cards? In the short term, no. But there is nothing that is ruled out completely. We still have the mandate to go as far as an unlimited general strike. »
Asked to react, the office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, indicates that “the negotiations are continuing, but that we will not comment further.”