2024-02-15 15:50:59
Two months following the arrival of the conciliator, the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) and Quebec are “still very far” from an agreement. The main challenge to reaching an agreement lies in the question of flexibility.
Updated yesterday at 11:31 a.m.
“Mandatory travel means that we still do not have a collective agreement,” declared FIQ president Julie Bouchard at a press conference Thursday morning. The union is opposed to the idea of forcing nurses to change establishments or care units to compensate for staff shortages.
The FIQ has already expressed its disagreement in the past with Quebec’s demands to include greater “flexibility” in health workers’ collective agreements. According to the union, this is a disguised way of moving nurses between care units and health establishments, according to the needs of employers.
According to Ms. Bouchard, “this request must leave the negotiating table” to reach an agreement.
The union, which represents some 85,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, called on a conciliator on December 19 in the hope of resolving the impasse in negotiations.
“The conciliator has been of invaluable help since his arrival. There are certain things that are tied up, but it’s still a long way to go,” says Ms. Bouchard. No new strike day is planned at this time.
On a voluntary basis, says Quebec
“The government must ensure that there are enough nurses, at all times and in the right places, to provide adequate care to the population. As part of this negotiation, we do not want to force nurses to travel, but rather we are offering a financial incentive to those who would like to go and lend a hand to their colleagues,” declared the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel.
She assures that her travels will be on a voluntary basis. “One thing is certain: we will never compromise on patient safety and the training required. It’s primordial. Protecting the public is non-negotiable,” she added.
“At the FIQ, we talk regarding compulsory travel, the government talks regarding voluntary flexibility. So, who is telling the truth? », For her part declared Julie Bouchard before adding that voluntary travel already exists in collective agreements. “It is written that health professionals can always volunteer for a trip. »
200 resignations in nine months
Such a “flexibility” measure was introduced in March in Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec (MCQ). CIUSSS MCQ nurses are called upon to lend a hand in areas where the needs are most pressing at least one weekend in three.
In the space of nine months, no fewer than 200 nurses working in the region would have retired early or resigned due to the new measure.
Tracey Beaudoin is one of the nurses who was moved to a new area. Since 2018, she has worked in Plessisville with new mothers to check their health and that of their newborn. “The goal is to provide them with the services they need, such as a nutritionist,” she declared at a press conference.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Tracey Beaudoin
She says that last year she was asked to work occasionally in neonatology, in a hospital center, in order to take care of babies and their mothers. “The nurses on the birthing units are so good, but they have a lot of practice, simulations of emergency situations. I’m light years away,” she says.
“I am an expert in my field, in early childhood, and I love it. It’s really a beautiful job. But you can’t take me and bring me to a place where I’m even worse than a beginner,” she said.
Members of the Union of Healthcare Professionals of Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec carried out an additional day of strike last November to denounce the implementation of this measure.
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