Psychologists feel abandoned by their union

(Quebec) Psychologists feel abandoned by their union: while the Legault government wants to increase their salary to make it more competitive with the private sector, the “blockage” comes from their representatives, denounces the Coalition of psychologists from the Quebec public network.

“How can we see the light when the people who are supposed to represent us say that if we give money to psychologists, we cannot give it to others? […] “, testifies the D^D Karine Gauthier, president of this organization which has been campaigning for years to improve the working conditions of psychologists in order to curb their exodus to the private sector.

A statement by Robert Comeau, President of the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS), in an article by The Press the day before, is the straw that broke the camel’s back for the regrouping. The APTS represents the majority of psychologists in the public network, who are among the professions to which Quebec intends to grant a higher salary increase than for other public sector employees.

Mr. Comeau said that the Legault government “just wants to settle the psychologists”. They don’t talk about youth centers [dont les employés sont représentés par l’APTS], where the problems are glaring. The money they propose to put in the forums, there will be no more afterwards for the others. »

Exodus

A statement difficult to collect for the D^D Gauthier, who recalls that the exodus of psychologists has been documented for more than a decade. “The wage gap with the private sector is 44%, it’s 57% with Ontario,” she says. She also cites an actuarial study commissioned by her organization which shows that psychologists in the public network, at the end of their career, earn $300,000 less than a bachelor’s degree in the health sector.

This situation of “wage injustice” has a direct impact on the profession: in 2021-2022 alone, 123 psychologists deserted the public network, reveal data from the Order of Psychologists. There are only 2,900 left in health and education. And the psychologists who go into private practice have specialties and expertise that cannot be replaced, she says. The quality of patient services is “eroding”.

For the D^D Gauthier, this statement proves “black and white” that the APTS “does not want to make [démarches] needed to end the shortage of psychologists in the public sector.

95% of psychologists want their own union

She points out that the opinion of the Coalition of Quebec Public Network Psychologists is widely shared by the profession. She cites a survey carried out by her organization in 2022 among 1000 psychologists which shows that 95% of them would like to have their own union, which the current law does not allow.

“We have to be grouped together with more than a hundred job titles. When we come to the general assembly, we are less than 3% of the members. Even if it is said that François Legault wants the salary of psychologists to be competitive with the private sector, […] how to pass that in an assembly where 97% of the members are not psychologists? “, she laments.

Except that if the situation persists, “we are going on an accelerated exodus. Psychologists can’t stand this lack of recognition any longer. She does not deny that there is a labor shortage in other employment categories, but she considers it obvious that the situation of psychologists is “marked and severe”.