(Montreal) Recognition of the seniority of nurses in the private sector, with the aim of integrating them into the public network, will be a major challenge for the Legault government and the FIQ to take up, because this may be perceived as an injustice by public nurses.
The seniority of a nurse in the public network is in fact attached to her establishment, either to her CISSS or her CIUSSS, explains in an interview Julie Bouchard, president of the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ).
Thus, when a nurse in the public network changes region or changes Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS), the calculation of her seniority starts from zero, explains Ms.me Bouchard. This public nurse would therefore experience as an injustice the fact that a private nurse who comes to work in the same hospital as her would see her seniority fully recognized, unlike her.
“If a nurse leaves Bas-Saint-Laurent to work in Quebec City, when she is hired, she leaves with zero seniority. So there, the government tells us “it is absolutely necessary to recognize from the outset the seniority of the healthcare professionals in the agencies”. But those who decide to go to work in another establishment, public for public, this seniority is not even recognized yet, ”laments Ms.me Bouchard.
On the FIQ’s Facebook page, we see members insisting that the FIQ hold its own and not give in to government pressure in this regard. Seniority must be recognized equally for all, they plead.
Seniority also plays a role in the choice of vacation dates, since not all nursing staff can take their vacation in July and August.
And the criterion of seniority also counts in the granting of positions, in many cases, notes Mme Bouchard.
Members to decide
This is why this question of seniority requires delicate negotiation, while the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, wants to facilitate the return of nurses from private agencies to the public network, precisely with the aim of lighten the workload of nursing staff in the public network.
“It’s not something easy to adopt. First, we have to have our discussions with our own levels, and not try to put pressure on us in the public arena, as if it were an easy thing to do and nothing was complicated. On the contrary, it’s big changes, if there are to be changes, “said Mme Bouchard.
“It’s really not by launching this kind of message and setting fire to the buttocks of healthcare professionals that the government will win on this issue so quickly,” adds Ms.me Bouchard.
“Give us time to do the work, to have the discussions. It is certain and certain that it is not me nor all the elected representatives of the FIQ who will take a position. It is really the members who will have to take a stand on these issues. And it’s not with a 1.8% increase per year for five years that the 80,000 members will tend to say “yes, we can recognize their seniority”, says M.me Bouchard, referring to the government’s salary offers to all state employees.