PROVINCIAL CONTRACT TALKS
Get to know the government offer

At the APTS General Council on July 13 and 14, your union delegates found that the government offer was not satisfactory enough to be adopted as an agreement in principle between the APTS and the Québec government. However, delegates did want to submit this offer to a democratic vote on the part of APTS members. The vote will take place at special general assemblies, and over the next few days, you’ll receive an invitation to one of these. Meanwhile, you’ll find a detailed description of the government offer on negoapts.com, as well as a salary projection tool (in French) that will help you understand the impact of the government’s proposed salary increases.

ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Brainstorming for home support and specialized housing

The APTS is a partner of the “Chez moi, mon droit” forum (“My home, my rights”) organized by Mouvement PHAS, and we'll be attending the event on September 14 and 15 at the Hôtel Universel in Montréal. Panelists will describe the current situation of home support and specialized housing (intermediate and family-type resources, CHSLDs and residences with continuous assistance / RACs) for people living with disabilities in Québec. They'll also identify shared demands and discuss possible courses of action. Stay tuned for a BlueAPTS article about major takeaways!

Join us on September 14 and 15: bit.ly/3jD0QTA

FEMINIST ACTION
Your thoughts on the daycare system crisis

The Québec daycare system is in crisis, and this leads to exhausting and unsuccessful searches for daycare spaces, longer commutes between home, work and daycare, increased stress for parents, and parents having to delay their return to work.The APTS is concerned and would like to hear from you in order to understand the consequences of the shortage of daycare spaces and be able to suggest solutions. Our survey is available here and you have until September 26 to respond.

A complete guide to the Québec Parental Insurance Plan

The feminist action sector is pleased to announce that an updated parental rights brochure is now online. This new and improved version includes everything you need to know about new elements of the Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP). We'll be printing the brochure once we’ve finished negotiating our provincial collective agreement; meanwhile, an online version is available in both English and French in the feminist action section of the APTS website.

Childcare services: investing the federal transfer wisely

In August, the federal government announced a new agreement with Quebec: $6 billion over 5 years in transfer funding for childcare services. The APTS is an active participant in the Coalition pour la conciliation famille-travail-études, and like them, we applaud this agreement. The transfer is unconditional, meaning that Québec will be able to spend the money as it sees fit. We fervently hope that the entire amount will be used to increase pay for educators, create new daycare spaces, and convert existing non-subsidized spaces into subsidized ones. More details soon in BlueAPTS!

COMMUNICATIONS
Mandatory vaccination: yes, there would be benefits - but how many, and at what cost?

The APTS strongly believes that vaccination of the greatest possible number of people is critical if we are to exit the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we took advantage of our appearance before the National Assembly’s Committee on Health and Social Services to share our concerns about the possible effects of mandatory vaccination on health and social services employees, and to reassert the importance of continued efforts to educate people and encourage them to get the vaccine. The APTS position on mandatory vaccination is fully explained in our brief (in French), or you can read our press release for a quick overview.