September 22, 2021

The president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec–FIQ, Nancy Bédard, is giving the Minister of Health and Social Services a serious warning. Healthcare professionals’ messages and the FIQ and FIQP’s efforts to denounce the use of mandatory overtime (MOT) as a management method should be reflected in the government’s plan for the health network to be announced this week.  

If this plan is going to patch up the boat the government let sink, it needs to take a drastically different approach and hold managers accountable.

“What our members need is time to adequately care for their patients. They need to be able to have a normal workday and a normal work week. They need time to provide quality care and time for their personal lives: it’s the basics of a balanced life. They have huge expectations of the government and it’s time for results. We don’t want to be stuck in a replay of the last several months wherein the government decreed our members’ working conditions. We demand collaboration, especially in the field with our affiliated unions.”

Nancy Bédard, President, Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec–FIQ

The FIQ demands:

• A directive from the Minister of Health and Social Services to permanently end the use of mandatory overtime;
• The obligation to respect a normal work week;
• A drastic change in the management culture based on ensuring respect and well-being, and consequently, prioritizing work-family balance: providing stable positions in one centre of activity, on one work shift, with one predictable work schedule that is posted in advance, and implementing self-scheduling throughout the network;
• The end of outrageous mobility and moving staff;
• Respect for healthcare professionals’ scope of practice and expertise;
• The enforcement of the negotiated directive on regulating independent labour (IL) to prioritize healthcare professionals on staff;
• The implementation of ratio projects for all centres of activity;
• Equitable incentives for healthcare professionals in the public network;
• Clear commitments so that from now on healthcare professionals participate in all decision-making that concerns them.

“The government should have woken up a lot sooner because the building’s been on fire for quite some time. Healthcare professionals have been denouncing these inhumane management methods for years, methods that use coercion and threats. Trust in the government and healthcare institution management is completely broken. The government’s plan needs to be clear on the aspects that must be immediately implemented to respect our members work contracts, work-family balance, professional recognition, and quality of life. Pressure must be put on managers, they must be held accountable from now on to guarantee a work climate that ensures healthcare professionals have stable, predictable schedules and all means necessary to provide safe patient care. The priority is still to cease managers’ abusive use of MOT in the health network.”