Negotiations between the Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec (FIQ) and the government still face obstacles, according to statements from the union body on Friday, while the Common Front has reached an agreement in principle to settle the salary issue and the Autumn Education Federation (FAE) said it would end its indefinite general strike on Thursday.
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In a newsletter published today, the leaders of the FIQ reiterate that they will continue to “resolutely defend the interests and demands of hospital staff, without giving in to the “flexibility” demanded by employers”.
The FIQ claims that this greater flexibility demanded by the government “would lead to crowding out, instability in teams and disregard for expertise in nursing and cardiorespiratory care.”
Union representatives criticize the lack of “listening from the management side”, especially on issues such as “discharge, overtime and compensation for inconvenience” such as evening, night and weekend work.
The mediator now at the negotiating table, whose aim is to help the two parties find points of agreement, “suggested limiting publications in the media until January 15th,” after which the union group agreed to “to take part”. his newsletter.
FIQ therefore undertakes not to organize a strike day until mid-January, ie before the status of the negotiations is communicated to the union delegates.
At the same time, negotiations on the Common Front
Negotiations with the Common Front, whose members include some nursing staff, and the FAE have made great progress in recent days, and the FIQ could use the points of understanding between these other union bodies and the government to break the deadlock within its own ranks to resolve negotiations.
“The leadership of the FIQ, the negotiating committee, has a lot of questions about what was negotiated on the Common Front side,” claims Marc Ranger, former director of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Quebec.
Although the pool of hospital workers represented by the Common Front is more limited, FIQ members acknowledge that “there have been agreements – [qui doivent encore être approuvées] – on work organization, so the pressure is growing on the part of FIQ members who are asking questions,” the analyst said in an interview on LCN.
Unlocking negotiations with the Common Front could therefore help advance negotiations with the FIQ.
Furthermore, the trade union organization claimed to have presented “a new proposal to the employers’ side” yesterday afternoon and is still waiting for a response from the government.