After more than 15 months of negotiations and an intensification of talks in the last three weeks, the FIQ finally managed to reach an agreement with the government of Quebec on the renewal of collective agreements.
For the moment, it is a “proposed agreement” since it has not yet been submitted to the 80,000 members of the Interprofessional Health Federation.
The FIQ made the announcement to its members around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning.
It represents the vast majority of nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists in Quebec.
Before being submitted to the members, the proposed agreement must first pass the stage of the FIQ’s intermediary body, the federal council, which is made up of delegates from the federation’s unions. This federal council will meet on March 19, 20 and 21.
The FIQ did not want to reveal the content of this proposed agreement, the union federation preferring to keep the news for its members, as is usually the case in such circumstances.
Flexibility
After more than 15 months of negotiation, the Gordian knot was that of the flexibility required of nurses. Employers wanted to be able to move nurses between care units, or even health establishments, according to their needs.
Publicly, the ministers of the Legault government affirmed that such travel would be voluntary, but the FIQ maintained that voluntary travel was already permitted in collective agreements. She therefore criticized employers for actually wanting to impose forced displacements, without taking into account the expertise and experience of nurses.
In recent weeks, the FIQ believed it had detected a softening of the government position in terms of the requested flexibility, but it was waiting to see the texts before making its decision.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Julie Bouchard, president of the FIQ
The terms of recognition of the seniority of nurses from private agencies who would return to the public network still remained to be negotiated.
The FIQ held a large gathering in Quebec last Saturday, having obtained the support and presence of nurses from Ontario and Nova Scotia, in particular. She then affirmed that there were still a few strings to be tied before discussing a possible settlement.
The FIQ was one of the four large public sector union organizations to still not have renewed its collective agreements. There now remains the Union of Government Professionals of Quebec (SPGQ), the Union of Public and Parapublic Services of Quebec (SFPQ) and the Association of Provincial Police Officers of Quebec (APPQ) to still have not settled.
The common inter-union front, made up of the APTS, the CSQ, the CSN and the FTQ, representing 420,000 health and education workers, reached an agreement, which the members have since ratified. The same goes for the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE).