The nurses at the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec have had enough. More than 200 healthcare professionals demonstrated outside Sainte-Croix Hospital in Drummondville on Sunday.
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Some departed by bus from Shawinigan, Trois-Rivières and Victoriaville to denounce the employer’s new actions. On Sunday, the CIUSSS MCQ introduced new mandatory weekend measures and the merging of services. According to the union, these moves and mergers of services are not a solution.
The nurses are outraged. You will not be able to change specialization overnight. For example, nurses specializing in psychiatry cannot specialize in the operating room. “I’ll get on my colleagues’ nerves,” admits one nurse.
Other unions came to support the nurses of the CIUSSS MCQ. The President of the SPPSAM-CIUSSS-MCQ is outraged by the “lies” spread by the CIUSSS at the negotiating table. The President of the APTS MCQ admits that the CIUSSS has never acted “with so little regard for their numbers, sorry, staff”.
The national president of the FIQ also made it a point to be present to let workers at the Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec know that there are more than 82,000 healthcare professionals supporting them across Quebec.
The administrative labor court ruled on Saturday. The threat of mass dismissal of nurses is unlawful.
“Are we surprised by the decision? The answer is no,” emphasizes FIQ President Julie Bouchard.
A general meeting between the Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec union and its members will be held on Monday to find other leverage union members can use against the employer’s actions.
The nurses hope that their heart’s cry will be heard and that the demonstration will be echoed as far as the health minister’s office on Sunday.