FIQ nurses vote in favour of conciliator’s recommendation to renew collective agreement
Posted October 17, 2024 10:23 pm.
Last Updated October 18, 2024 6:31 pm.
Voting members of the FIQ adopted the conciliator’s recommendation to renew their collective agreement by 66.3 per cent on Thursday evening.
Of the 80,000 or so members of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), the union indicated in a posting on its social networks that 75 per cent had taken part in the vote via an electronic platform.
In a statement, the union said it would “ensure that this new employment contract is rolled out as quickly as possible”. The collective agreement expired a year and a half ago, on March 31, 2023.
“Our members have decided to accept this recommendation, even though it does not address all their concerns,” said FIQ president Julie Bouchard in the union’s press release. “The struggle of care professionals has not only exposed the government’s refusal, but also demonstrated that it is on the wrong track by always demanding more from those who support the network at arm’s length.”
“We found the recommendations fair and that’s all we were looking for. Are we happy? No, not at all,” said Jennie Rhee, the president of the local union (FIQ) for nursing and cardio respiratory professionals for the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).
“For the population of Quebec, I would say we are very concerned. This is not going to be an easy fix when you have healthcare professionals who are not completely satisfied with their contract and the working conditions remain quite dismal. It’s dangerous for the public. We are saying it loud and clear. We want to improve this réseau (network), but we can’t do it overnight.”
“For me personally, I’m disappointed, but I’m disappointed for nurses throughout the province of Quebec,” said Naveed Hussain, a Montreal nurse and FIQ member, adding, “I feel saddened for them. At the same time though, I think we needed to get this deal done because people are struggling to pay their rents, pay their groceries, pay their bills.”
For her part, the President of Quebec’s Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, touted on social media the achievement of “greater flexibility in the agreement, greater availability of professionals” to “adequately” care for Quebecers when they need it.
It also emphasized that the agreement reached “achieves the mobility objectives agreed with the other unions, while reassuring nurses with guidelines” reflecting the reality of their work.
Nevertheless, the FIQ assures that it will continue to fight for better working conditions and safe care. “Many issues remain, even after the adoption of a work contract. We consider that a profound change in values will be necessary to turn the network around and attract care professionals back to it,” Bouchard maintained.
The result was eagerly awaited, following the 61 per cent rejection of a tentative agreement by members last April.
The vote began at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, following a series of information meetings, spread over several weeks, on the content of the proposal put forward by the conciliator on September 15.
The main reason why the agreement in principle, which was recommended by the FIQ, was not approved by members last April was because of the clauses concerning the mobility expected of nurses.
Employers in the network want to be able to move nurses from one care unit to another, or even from one establishment to another, to meet needs. But nurses see this as a way of denying their expertise and treating them as interchangeable pawns, in addition to undermining the monitoring and quality of care.
Since the rejection of the agreement in principle, this mobility requirement has been more clearly defined during conciliation discussions, in the hope that this reorganization would satisfy FIQ members.
The conciliator’s global recommendation clarifies that the maximum range of travel is limited to 40 kilometres, but for the Montreal area and other regions, these distances are shorter depending on the institution or facility.
“It feels like the mobility clause was just a way for the government to distract from financial compensation,” said Hussain. “This distraction caused a lot of headaches for nurses, a lot of fear and anxiety and it became the number one issue with regards to our negotiations rather than the compensation that we deserve.”
As for salary increases detailed in the collective agreement and recommended by the conciliator, it’s 17.4 per cent over five years, starting retroactively from April 1, 2023 and runs until March 31, 2028.
Vacation time also changes in the new collective agreement, FIQ members will receive a 5th week of annual leave after 19 years of service. Previously, 25 vacation days were granted to members with 25 years or more of service.
Once the conciliator’s recommendation has been accepted, it must become the FIQ’s new collective agreement.
If the members had rejected it, the parties would have had to return to the bargaining table.
FIQ members had already held several days of walkout, while maintaining essential services, in November and December 2023.
The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé represents the vast majority of nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists in Quebec’s healthcare establishments.
This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
