The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) announced that it’s reached an agreement in principle with the Quebec government.
It’ll be presented to FIQ union representatives at the nurses’ federal council, scheduled Tuesday to Thursday – before being submitted to their members who will vote on its adoption.
“As they are the ones who have held the health network at arm’s length for many years, it goes without saying that they must be aware of and have their say on the adoption of this agreement in principle first,” explained Bouchard.
The FIQ has been negotiating for a new collective agreement for more than 15 months and held eight strike days.
Naveed Hussain is a nurse at the Montreal General Hospital and a member of the FIQ union.
He said he is relieved that they can start moving on and looking for ways to improve healthcare in Quebec.
“It’s been a long time and we’re waiting for this agreement,” said Hussain. “We’re waiting for entails with regards to monetary issues, work-life balance, and obviously freedom of movement, and how you know, nurses can stay on the unit rather than being thrown around. We’re not disposable, right? So it feels like the stress is off but it’s more about what does the agreement entail and whether the union was able to make sure that nurses and all are being respected.”
The FIQ has over 80,000 members including nurses, respiratory therapists, nursing assistants and clinical perfusionists working in the health sector throughout the province.
The FIQ was one of the three major public sector unions that had not renewed their collective agreements including the Syndicat des professionnels du gouvernement du Québec (SPGQ) and the Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ).
“We as a general assembly will have the chance to vote and to ratify the agreement or to basically send it back to the negotiating table,” explained Hussain.
The inter-union Common Front, which represents 420,000 workers in health and education, as well as the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) have all reached an agreement with the Quebec government.
-This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews.
