Among the public sector bonuses whose payment was interrupted this week by Quebec is a bonus of 3.5% which is paid to all nurses, denounces the FIQ.
The Interprofessional Health Federation, which represents 80,000 nurses, practical nurses and other healthcare professionals, denounces the interruption of the payment of this bonus, while Quebec struggles to retain them in the public network.
The FIQ explains that this bonus was negotiated during the renewal of the 2020-2023 collective agreement. According to her, it is therefore not a bonus linked to the health emergency, but a recognition bonus.
The vice-president of the FIQ, Jérôme Rousseau, maintains that it was then a way of granting differentiated remuneration to nurses.
The Treasury Board confirmed Monday that it is stopping paying this bonus. However, he gives another reading of the purpose of this bonus, affirming that it was indeed linked to the health emergency, since “it was to recognize their essential role in the reorganization of clinical activities caused by the pandemic”.
He concedes that this bonus was indeed negotiated, but emphasizes that it was to end on March 30, 2023.
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