The government is forcing a very dubious choice: salaries or patients
The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec–FIQ is disgusted by the government’s recent proposals. It appears to associate salary increases with a reduction in public care quality. Healthcare professionals will never accept this vision of things.
“The government is offering healthcare professionals less than all other public sector workers as long as they don’t agree to what it calls “flexibility.” We have presented all of the possible risks that the mandatory reassignment demanded by the government poses. That’s how much respect the Legault government has for the women who keep the health network running,” explained Julie Bouchard, FIQ President.
Financially blackmailing women
The government’s offer for FIQ members, who are nearly 90% women, remains unchanged at 12.7% over five years. In the last bargaining sessions, the employer party clearly stated that any additional pay increase would be associated with its demand for “flexibility.”
The Federation does not understand where the government is going with these demands when it has provided the public with clear examples of the serious problems that mandatory reassignment creates. The real problem isn’t a lack of “flexibility,” it is the network’s inability to provide access to safe, quality care to the entire Quebec population. It is vital, for healthcare professionals and the population, that we negotiate an agreement that will enable the public network to accomplish its key mission.
“The government is asking us to choose between better pay and quality care for the population. It is shameful to frame the issues in this way. Healthcare professionals’ working conditions and the population’s care conditions are one and the same. The government needs to realize it,” concluded the FIQ President.