Nurses to refuse overtime if no agreement reached
Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
Nurses to refuse overtime if no agreement reached
Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
Members of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), the province’s largest nurses’ union, will begin refusing overtime requests en masse as of Sept. 19 unless the federation reaches an agreement with the provincial government, the union announced shortly before Labour Day Weekend.
The FIQ, which represents about 80,000 nurses and nurs- ing assistants across the prov- ince, has been in negotiations with the province for nearly a year and a half. In March, both parties announced that an agreement in principle had been reached, but 61 per cent of voting FIQ members rejected the agreement, sending both parties back to the table.
The government proposed a new offer on Aug. 29, which was rejected out of hand by the union. In a rare move, the union leaked a government overview of the latest proposal to the media and the public on its website.
“Following the rejection of the agreement in principle in April 2024, the employer side was sensitive to the various elements related to mobility that generated fears and dis- content among the employees represented by the FIQ,” government negotiators wrote. “An analysis was conducted to explore other avenues to take into account the observations expressed by the employees, particularly with regard to the recognition and respect of their expertise in ensuring safe and quality care and services to the population. Achieving flexibility objectives remains essential for the government. The employer side is submit- ting new alternative proposals to achieve a balance between the needs of the [health and social services network] in terms of clinical services and the stability sought for mem- bers.”
FIQ president Julie Bouchard told reporters the agreement contained “steps backward” in terms of nurses’ control of their schedules and work locations, allowing the health network to send nurses as far as 200 kilo- metres from the facility where they are normally based when they’re needed, and replacing stable day-shift or night-shift jobs with rotating-shift jobs when nurses retire or move.
In a statement posted to social media, Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel said she was “stunned to hear Ms. Bouchard negotiate in public while we are asked to negotiate at the table.”
LeBel said it was “false to say that the government wants to increase the moving around of staff.”
She continued, “It’s irresponsible to scare people when our objective is to take better care of them with a better organization of labour in hospitals – on a voluntary basis and with the training required.”