Members of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) are ready to return to negotiations after the nurses’ union failed to reach an agreement in principle with the government.
The FIQ represents more than 80,000 health care workers in Quebec.
According to a press release on Tuesday, the FIQ says it remains united and wants to keep their primary objective in mind which is to have better working conditions.
“We are rolling up our sleeves, determined to make the voices of nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists heard and determined to continue to defend the conditions of care of the population and the public health network,” said FIQ president Julie Bouchard.
The demands by the FIQ include stability to healthcare professionals, respecting their expertise, better working conditions for full-time and part-time healthcare workers, improved access to overtime at double rate on weekends and bonuses.
Also, the FIQ is calling on the new head of Santé Québec Geneviève Biron, and Health Minister Christian Dubé to listen to the healthcare professionals.
“Dubé asked our members to follow him blindly in a reform which is in reality only an empty shell, and this vagueness creates a lot of concern, both at the negotiating table and on the ground,” said Bouchard. “Our members are not suspicious for nothing, because as recent history demonstrates, the government is far from being an employer of choice.”
Jérôme Rousseau is the FIQ vice-president.
He says negotiations may start as early as Wednesday.
“Perhaps tomorrow, with all reservations, we will return to the negotiating table to present our analysis of the rejection and, precisely, what requests we wish to improve in the agreement in principle,” concluded Rousseau.
The FIQ has more than 80,000 members such as nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists working in the health establishments across Quebec.
It’s an organization made up of nearly 90 per cent of women.
-With files from La Presse Canadienne