The delegates who are members of the federal council of the Fédération de la santé du Québec (FSQ-CSQ) rejected by 98% a proposal for a sectoral agreement, which will therefore not be presented to their members. The Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec (FIQ) says for its part that it does not yet have a “settlement hypothesis” and indicates that the negotiations are stumbling over “several fundamental elements” which will take “time to be resolved”.
As Christmas approached, the FSQ-CSQ announced that it had reached a sectoral agreement in principle with Quebec. This ultimately did not obtain the green light from the union delegates, who had to approve it before submitting it to the approximately 5,200 members of the Common Front member federation.
“The delegation judged that there would have been setbacks at the table, so the body judged that the agreement was not interesting enough to present it to you,” indicates a bulletin Info-nego from the organization which leaked on social networks Thursday afternoon.
The document indicates that certain aspects of this agreement pose “serious irritants”. This is particularly the case of “the bonus for overtime at double rate on weekends, which does not apply to everyone”, cites the FSQ-CSQ, which also deplores “the disparity between full-time workers part-time and full-time on the granting of overtime, as well as the non-payment of a percentage of permits from professional orders,” we can read.
In this context, the FSQ-CSQ requests that a conciliator intervene in order to facilitate the conclusion of a sectoral agreement with Quebec. The organization also specifies that the rejection of this proposed regulation in no way affects the future votes of its members on the intersectoral agreement concluded by the Common Front, which notably provides for a salary increase of 17.4%. over five years for its members.
A “busy” winter for the FIQ
The FIQ, which represents 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, also issued a bulletin Info-nego Thursday in which he warns his members that the winter will be “busy” due to the complexity of negotiations with Quebec. The union indicates that “several fundamental elements” still pose a problem, notably “overtime, compulsory travel, the implementation of safety ratios, the increase in wages on weekends and the organization of working hours”.
“The negotiating committee is determined to devote all the time it takes to complete this negotiation and obtain real improvements in working conditions, as well as the quality and access to care,” adds -on in the bulletin.
In its newsletter, the FIQ invites its members to “keep up the pressure” on the government by sending their curriculum vitae to Minister Christian Dubé for the position of CEO of the new Santé Québec agency, for which the government has launched the call for applications on Wednesday. According to the union, more than 1,400 people have already done so using the automated form posted on its website. Their CV ended up in an email box of the Secretariat for Higher Jobs.
The union says it believes that a “satisfactory agreement” remains “attainable”. In interview at Duty On Monday, the president of the FIQ, Julie Bouchard, also stressed that the conciliator is “very valuable help” in the current negotiations.