Thank you to those have taken care of us during the holiday season, as well as to all those who will continue to do so in 2017
Many of you participated in our little operation during the holidays which consisted of saying thank you through Facebook to your colleagues who were working during the holidays. If their dedication is clear, you have every reason to be proud of your unwavering support of them and it has touched my heart. The operation has generated nearly 52,000 reactions and shares, and nearly one million Facebook users have witnessed this solidarity. I think that this is also being 100% healthcare professionals.
It is on this positive note that we are embarking on a very busy year. In my last blog, I gave you a general overview of what we are expecting for 2017. Without repeating what I have already written, I still would like to point out that following the merger of the institutions stipulated in Bill 10, the healthcare professionals, the job category represented by several unions, have to make a choice. This is why, as of January 30, that you will be asked to vote by mail for the labour organization which will represent you. We suggest that you watch this video which explains how this vote will be carried out.
Let’s be clear: we are in a raiding period, and some would like us to be throwing mud around. But there is no way the FIQ will lower themselves to that level. And even though this vote is very important, we won’t be waiting for the results to be revealed to continue to do what we can do better than anyone can do: continue our battles to improve the conditions of practice of the healthcare professionals and to improve the quality and the safety of patient care.
We now know with certainty that the Liberal cutbacks in health care compromise the quality and the safety of patient care. I will only cite as an example the region of Bas-Saint-Laurent where we recently revealed the results of a consultation on the conditions of practice of the healthcare professionals. These results are striking: the excessive workload prevents the healthcare professionals from giving all the patient care and the latter’s moral is at its lowest.
This situation is not very different elsewhere in Québec and we will continue to demonstrate this for as long as this government does not understand that they are completely out to lunch.