FIQ nurses protest in front of National Assembly

Members of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) protested Saturday in Quebec City.

An agreement has yet to be reached with the Quebec government for the renewal of most public sector nurses’ collective agreements.

Demonstrators gathered in front of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec before marching to the National Assembly.

The FIQ represents more than 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists in the province.

The union was not part of the common front of unions, which represented 420,000 workers in the public health and education sectors. The leaders of those unions – the CSN, CSQ, APTS and FTQ – came to an agreement with the François Legault government after the Christmas holidays. They ratified their new labour contracts last month.

Also in February, the FIQ denounced Quebec’s demands for “flexibility.” At that point the FIQ was in conciliation and was not considering other strike days, as was the case in November and December.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by La Presse Canadienne