2024-03-22 20:00:15
The proposed agreement in principle concluded between the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) and the Quebec government is far from unanimous. According to the FIQ, 53% of delegates voted in favor of the proposed agreement during the federal council on Thursday. Some representatives dissented, signaling they would not recommend the deal. Others have expressed their intention not to present it to their members.
“This is not the first time that we have faced dissent,” reacted the president of the FIQ, Julie Bouchard, in a written statement the day after the vote. This agreement in principle will not solve all the network’s problems and we are fully aware of this. » The proposed agreement, she adds, is “the fruit of sometimes heartbreaking choices”. “Now, democracy must take its course and the floor will be given to members during the referendum vote on April 10, 11 and 12,” she said.
According to the president of the FIQ, the negotiated agreement in principle includes “several advances” such as the supervision of compulsory overtime, remuneration for clinical nurses for overtime, a salary increase of 17.4% and a “firm commitment” for the deployment of ratios of patients per professional.
Denis Cloutier, president of the Union of Healthcare Professionals of the East Island of Montreal, expressed his dissent during the general council. According to him, the “concessions related to flexibility” are “not adapted to Montreal’s reality.” “The markers were expressed in mileage and the radius is so large that a healthcare professional who currently works in the East of Montreal could be forced to go and work anywhere on the Island of Montreal as well as on its southern and northern suburbs,” he maintains.
Mélanie Gignac, president of the Union of Healthcare Professionals of Montérégie-Ouest-FIQ, voted for the agreement and will present it to its members. “There are gains,” she said. There’s something for everyone. Does it live up to members’ expectations? They will show it to us during the vote. The only thing I can say about all this is that for nurses from private agencies, it is clearly insufficient and they will not return to the public sector. »
Brigitte Petrie, president of the Union of Care Professionals of Montérégie-Est-FIQ, agrees that the agreement is “not perfect”, but believes that it responds to long-standing demands. For example, clinical nurses will be paid overtime under the same conditions as their nursing colleagues. They will be entitled to it as soon as their shift is over, and not just after completing 40 hours of work in their week. “We also have the fifth week of vacation sooner,” she continues.
Jean-Sébastien Blais, president of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue-FIQ Interprofessional Health Care Union, believes that there are “enough gains” to recommend this agreement. This provides $15 million to find solutions to attract and retain personnel in its region, which is experiencing a serious labor shortage. “The last collective agreement, we had 3 million for the region,” he explains. We have five times the amount this time. »
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