Impasse in FIQ negotiations; heavier pressure tactics in September
Posted July 12, 2024 2:18 pm.
Last Updated July 12, 2024 2:19 pm.
The FIQ nurses union says they’re at an “impasse” in negotiations with Quebec and plan to resort once again to strike action, as early as September.
The Fédération Interprofessionnelle de la Santé (FIQ), which represents 80,000 nurses, nursing assistants and other care professionals, held a council meeting this week to take stock of the negotiations.
Discussions had resumed with the Quebec government after FIQ members rejected the agreement in principle back in April, to renew the collective agreement by 61 per cent.
Now, “we’ve reached an impasse; we’ve come to the end of the discussions,” confided Jérôme Rousseau, FIQ vice-president and co-responsible for the negotiations, in an interview on Friday.
The FIQ already has a strike mandate. Its members walked off the job for several days in November and December 2023.
The same strike mandate could be reactivated as early as September, warned Rousseau.
“Yes, the strike mandate is still there. We won’t hesitate to use it. Obviously, we want to move forward, but we want to move forward fairly quickly. Our members are ready; that’s what we’re hearing on the ground,” he concludes.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
