Québec solidaire (QS) presented Monday to the National Assembly its “Respect Plan” to bring caregivers back into the health network, while in Montreal, five union organizations representing nurses went out to denounce the conditions of work imposed by the Legault government.
“When we talk to caregivers, it’s the word that comes up the most. We want to feel respected. We are tired of not feeling respected, ”launched the solidarity Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois by presenting his plan of 365 million.
“It’s a plan that costs less than the status quo”, He argued, pointing out that the government grants a billion dollars per year to private agencies.
To “repair 20 years of centralizing reforms, cuts, austerity, neoliberal model”, QS proposes to draw up monthly reviews of the use of private agencies and the use of “compulsory overtime” (TSO) – two practices that he wishes to see disappear.
At the moment, “it’s the cross and the banner” to obtain data about the use of agencies or TSO, underlined Vincent Marissal. But “if we don’t measure it, we don’t know what we’re doing,” he added.
Within three years, his party would like all the staff of private agencies to be repatriated to the public network. Ultimately, the objective is “that he [ne] remain more agency employees of private agencies in the health network ”, summarized Mr. Marissal.
More powers, and ratios
Québec solidaire is also proposing to introduce a law on patient / nurse ratios. “The idea is to establish a floor in terms of patient safety. And that, regardless of the hospital, regardless of the region, ”declared Mr. Nadeau-Dubois. The party also wants to “give more powers to caregivers” by delegating the design of schedules to staff, giving more powers to midwives and promoting the presence of nurses in the positions of heads of unit.
The solidarity groups also demand that health establishments be obliged to make childcare centers available to nursing staff, in order to promote family-work reconciliation. Their party also relies on a “great seduction package” to retain caregivers in the region. Reimbursement of moving expenses or the down payment for a house, widening of regional disparity bonuses and “region bonus” to retain interns are some of the solutions put forward.
QS is also asking the Legault government to adopt its whistleblower bill. In recent months, the media have exposed cases of whistleblowers who lost their jobs after publicly denouncing situations they deemed unacceptable.
A culture change requested
With its proposals, QS said it wanted to transform the culture of the health network into a “culture of respect”. “The fundamental reason why women leave in employment agencies is the authoritarian, often contemptuous culture that reigns in our health system,” lamented Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
In parallel with its announcement, moreover, five union organizations representing nurses – FIQ, CSQ, FSSS, CUPE, SQEES – united to demand the end of the government by ministerial decrees.
They are particularly against Decree 007, which suspends the working conditions of their collective agreements to give the CISSS and CIUSSS a very large margin of maneuver in the allocation of human resources.
With the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ) in the lead, they deplored the fact that the Minister of Health and Social Services did not listen to them to identify possible solutions to problems such as shortages, compulsory overtime and others.
The unions have said they are considering various remedies if the Legault government does not change its mind. The FIQ recently publicly mentioned the possibility of a legal recourse to annul the ministerial decree which governs the payment of retention bonuses of $ 15,000 per nurse.
In the past, the FIQ has already held “days without OST” for example. And the school directors had succeeded in reorganizing the work without resorting to these compulsory overtime hours.
Asked about this, the interim president of the FIQ, Nathalie Lévesque, admitted that the pressure tactic could be used again, perhaps even with the other union organizations.
Other avenues are also open to trade unions, such as complaints of obstacles to trade union activities under the Labor Code, since they complain that the government is going over the heads of the unions to determine the conditions. of their members, without negotiation.
– With Lia Lévesque, The Canadian Press