Nurses block bridges in Montreal and Quebec City in protest over work conditions
Posted October 19, 2020 2:35 pm.
MONTREAL – Nurses and other health-care workers are blocking two major bridges in Montreal and Quebec City in protest over stalled contract negotiations with the provincial government.
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Members of the union, which represents about 76,000 health-care workers, blocked traffic today on Montreal’s Jacques Cartier Bridge and on the Quebec Bridge in the provincial capital.
The Federation interprofessionnelle de la sante du Quebec says working conditions in the province’s health-care system are pushing many nurses and other health workers to take sick leave, retire or to quit.
Workers say they want smaller patient-to-caregiver ratios and more stable and complete work teams.
The protests come as Quebec is reporting 1,038 new cases of COVID-19 today as well as six more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Hospitalizations increased by five compared with the prior day, for a total of 532, and 92 of those patients were in intensive care, an increase of four.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2020.
