(Quebec) Called to comment on the failure of talks with the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ), the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, announced Tuesday that his objectives in terms of staff mobility “have not changed “.
“What we want is a certain flexibility to be able to serve our patients well and have a correct environment for our employees,” declared Mr. Dubé during the study of his ministry’s budgetary appropriations.
The spokesperson for Québec solidaire (QS) in health, Vincent Marissal, had just stated that the negotiation with the FIQ “broke down at the precise point where you wanted it to happen, that is to say mobility , that’s what’s blocking.”
“No need to be Nostradamus. It’s about having two or three contacts to know that it wasn’t happening, particularly in urban areas,” said the QS representative.
He then asked Mr. Dubé what he planned to do, given that mobility issues have already caused “quite a hubbub” with the resignation of 200 health workers in Mauricie.
“Are you coming back with this?” Is this a “deal breaker”, a sine qua non condition for you? » he wanted to know.
Mr. Dubé responded that his objectives in terms of labor mobility “have not changed” and that he was going to give the FIQ time to analyze the results of its vote, “because that did not vote the same way everywhere.”
Rejection at 61%
Last Friday, FIQ members voted 61% against the agreement in principle that had been reached with the government for the renewal of their collective agreement.
After more than 15 months of negotiations, the Gordian knot was that of the flexibility required of nurses. Employers wanted to be able to move nurses between care units, or even health establishments, according to their needs.
Publicly, the ministers of the Legault government affirmed that such travel would be voluntary, but the FIQ maintained that voluntary travel was already permitted in collective agreements.
She therefore criticized employers for actually wanting to impose forced displacements, without taking into account the expertise and experience of nurses.
Nearly 66,000 healthcare professionals out of a possible 80,000 exercised their right to vote.
For the president of the FIQ, Julie Bouchard – who had recommended voting in favor of the agreement in principle – “the message cannot be clearer” that this agreement is unsatisfactory for the members.
“We won’t move,” says LeBel
However, the government will not “move on the flexibility objectives,” said Tuesday the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, during a press scrum at the National Assembly.
“What is important to understand is that our context will not change, that is to say that the objective demands for flexibility will remain. We managed to come to an agreement with the common front on this, so I think we are capable.
“It is important to have a certain mobility in the network because we must be able to have all the necessary service coverage.
“That being said, we will make sure to see what the specific issues are, because in the agreement, there were guidelines, there were places to reassure the nurses who were to the satisfaction of the FIQ,” she pointed out.
reference: www.lapresse.ca