It’s back to the negotiating table for the Quebec government and the ptovince’s largest nurses’s union, Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), after union members voted against the tentative contract deal negotiators for each party struck last month.
In March, negotiators on behalf of the FIQ, which represents some 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, recommended that its members vote to accept the agreement and members took part in a three-day referendum vote to make a decision.
But after 15 months of negotiations, the two sides have failed to finalize the deal, with 61 per cent of union members turning it down.
According to the union’s Facebook page, just over three-quarters of union members took part in the vote.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Quebec Treasury Board President Sonia Lebel, said negotiations will be revisited.
“We are going to meet with the union to understand what the stumbling blocks are. However, the context and our objectives will remain the same, particularly in terms of flexibility.”
Earlier this year, following months of protests, Quebec’s common front of public sector unions, known as the Front commun, which represents about 420,000 public sector heath-care and education workers,ratified a deal with the government.
The Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE), which represents 66,500 teachers in Quebec, also voted in favour of a deal in February.