To avoid an exodus of new nurse clinicians to Ontario and New Brunswick, the Legault government must reverse its decision and offer a better salary upon hiring to university graduates, believes the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Quebec (FIQ).
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Quebec now prohibits hospitals from granting financial benefits to future graduate nurses, who will henceforth begin their career at the bottom of the salary scale, like the others.
The government has thus put an end to a practice that has been in place for several years in several health establishments, which allowed university graduates to start at the 7th level, to reflect their academic background.
“There are no bad ideas or bad solutions to play in attracting and retaining staff!” argues the president, Julie Bouchard. She cannot explain why ministers Sonia Lebel and Christian Dubé chose to “level everyone down”, while Quebec is struggling with a serious shortage of nurses.
According to the trade unionist, the government should rather have extended this practice “which worked well” to the entire health network.
- Listen to the interview with Julie Bouchard on Philippe-Vincent Foisy’s show broadcast live daily via QUB radio :
Mermaids’ song
Meanwhile, Ontario and New Brunswick are dangling much better salaries for graduates from Quebec, insists Julie Bouchard.
“When you earn about $5 to $6 more an hour right away when you start, it’s quite interesting and it can cause the person to choose to go to another province to practice in order to have a better salary”.
The Association of Graduate Students in Nursing Sciences of McGill University has also denounced loud and clear the position of Quebec, evoking a possible exodus of new graduates.
union request
In the office of the Minister of Health, it is considered that the duty of the government is to respect collective agreements and equity between staff.
The FIQ replies that a better starting salary for all nurses with a bachelor’s degree is precisely one of the sixty union demands in the context of the negotiations of the collective agreements which are beginning with the State.
“There are healthcare professionals, clinical nurses who are really angry with this measure,” points out the president, who intends to defend tooth and nail this position in the talks with Quebec.