Quebec agrees with midwives

After more than two years without a contract, the Regroupement Les sages-femmes du Québec (RSFQ) has reached an agreement in principle with the Quebec government, on which members could be called to vote by the end of September.

Ariane Kroll
The Press

The agreement announced by Quebec on Tuesday was concluded “late last Friday night,” said the RSFQ, supported by the Fédération de professionnèles (FP – CSN).

The parties did not disclose the details of the agreement, which must first be submitted to the respondents of the labor relations committee (CRT) of the various midwifery services. The CRT body will then decide whether to recommend that the agreement be presented to a general meeting, which could take place by the end of the summer (September 21).

“We are confident that things are going in the right direction in terms of retention and attraction. There is a clear improvement in working conditions, which takes into account the reality of the work of midwives,” commented RSFQ vice-president Amaili Jetté in a telephone interview.

A motion of the National Assembly had asked the government to start negotiations “without delay” in mid-March. The motion, tabled by solidarity MP Émilise Lessard-Therrien, was adopted unanimously by the 101 MPs present, including the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, and the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé.

The RSFQ, a professional association, has nearly 250 members, who have been without a work contract since April 2020. As of 1^er last April, nearly 10% had not renewed their permit with their professional order, deplored their Regroupement.

One of the main demands is payment for one hour of work for eight hours on call. This is the case “in all predominantly male work environments” in the health network, such as institutional pharmacists and technicians, argued the RSFQ.

Midwives’ pay ranged from $31.29 to $53.11 per hour in 2019, and they receive $2.59 per hour on call, the association says. This represents $20.72 for eight hours, or 66% of the hourly wage.

“With this agreement, the government is giving itself the means to strengthen the practice of midwifery throughout Quebec through measures focused on attraction and retention, recognition of their role in the accessibility of care […] and the continued development of the profession, ”said the office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, in a press release.

About 10% of Quebec women of childbearing age would like to be followed and assisted by a midwife, estimated the 2008-2018 Birth Policy, citing a 2005 SOM survey. According to the RSFQ, only 4.5% of pregnancy follow-ups are currently performed by a midwife.

Some regions have projects, but still no birth centers on their territory, indicates M^me Thrown in citing Côte-Nord, Abitibi, Laval and Montérégie-Est. Gaspésie had to resort to midwives from outside for the holidays, and the situation in Montreal is in “fragile balance” after the opening of several services.