Recruitment of workers from private agencies | Agreement on the “sacred cow” of seniority

(Quebec) An important obstacle has just been overcome in collective agreements with a view to bringing workers from private agencies back into the public fold. The Legault government has agreed with the largest union in the health sector to recognize these workers with up to four to five years of seniority.

In return, the Federation of Health and Social Services of the CSN (FSSS-CSN) has obtained that network employees can accumulate the years of seniority spent in different establishments. And there was an increase in bonuses as a result.

From the start of negotiations a year ago, Prime Minister François Legault maintained that “the biggest problem for improving the health network” is found in the collective agreements which prevent the recognition of any seniority to the personnel of private agencies ready to return to the public network.

This was a major obstacle for the government, especially since it passed a law last year to gradually end the use of labor from private employment agencies. As of October 20, the public network will no longer be able to call on agencies in Montreal, Laval, Montérégie, the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches. The deadline for other regions is October 19, 2025 or October 18, 2026, whichever is applicable.

Quebec wants to recruit as many as possible of the approximately 11,000 agency workers, including nearly 3,000 nurses. He wanted to ensure that negotiations in the public sector could make it possible to find common ground on the recognition of the seniority of these workers, an essential condition according to him to attract them.

In the sectoral agreement reached on Christmas Eve and officially adopted by the FSSS-CSN on Tuesday, the parties agreed on a “seniority recognition process” for workers from agencies and for employees currently at the use of the public network.

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This “unique” process of recognition of seniority will take place this year, “between the date of entry into force of the collective agreement and up to six months after the creation of the Santé Québec agency” planned for this spring, according to the FSSS-CSN, which has approximately 120,000 members.

Thus, for an agency worker ready to join the public network, seniority will be recognized “from March 13, 2020, until six months after the creation of the Santé Québec agency, for the period where [cette personne] worked in network establishments on behalf of an agency,” we can read in an explanatory document from the FSSS-CSN. That would be about four to five years, tops. It remains to be seen whether this measure will appeal to agency workers.

“It proves that we have flexibility, while, shamelessly, we were told that we did not have any,” maintains the president of the FSSS-CSN, Réjean Leclerc, in an interview. The government is refusing to comment on the agreement at this time.

“We are consistent with our speech: we want to repatriate the staff (of the agencies), but not under any conditions,” adds Réjean Leclerc. We had to explain to the government that it couldn’t be “go ahead and demand $200” because there would have been an outcry in the assemblies. We had to put in markers. » Seniority is considered a “sacred cow” in the network, as he recalls.

Give and take

Initially, the FSSS-CSN was opposed to recognizing seniority for agency workers “because the consideration concerning personnel in the network was not in the government’s discourse”. Quebec finally accepted the union request.

According to the agreement, the government grants “network seniority” to workers currently employed in the public sector. It must be understood that the seniority of a worker has always been linked to their establishment – ​​a CISSS or a CIUSSS. If he changes establishment, the counter drops to zero: years of seniority spent in a previous establishment are not taken into account.

This will no longer be the case. According to the agreement, current employees of the network will be recognized “the accumulation of seniority resulting from past employment ties with all employers in the health and social services network, on the condition that it has not expired more than a year between these employment relationships.” Workers will have to request it as part of the recognition process and provide proof of years of seniority.

With the creation of Santé Québec, the issue will no longer arise for the future. As this agency will become the sole employer in the network, a worker will be able to change region without losing their seniority.

Increased premiums

At the negotiating table, “when we opened the door to agency staff being recognized for years of seniority, I admit that this made it possible to open up many other projects that were blocked, notably bonuses », says Réjean Leclerc.

These bonuses for evening, night and weekend shifts as well as the bonuses for certain more difficult work environments have been significantly increased.

The agreement also provides for the granting of a lump sum of $50 to $100 per day for an employee who agrees to work elsewhere in his establishment or in another establishment. Such travel is done on a voluntary basis.

Despite the agreement, “the issue of work overload remains”, which the members deplored in the assembly, recognized Réjean Leclerc. They nevertheless adopted the agreement by a strong majority, according to the results of the votes which ended Tuesday. “We take an act of faith by saying: let’s hope that the measure [sur l’ancienneté des travailleurs d’agence] works, because with each additional person we will be able to distribute the workload more equitably,” affirms Réjean Leclerc.

Quebec has still not reached an agreement with the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), which represents the majority of nurses. But the agreement reached with the FSSS-CSN paves the way for these negotiations.