VOLUME 13 No. 10 | MAY 15, 2023 | PROVINCIAL CONTRACT TALKS
The Front commun is incensed and ratchets up the pressure Over a thousand people demonstrated on Saturday at the convention of the CAQ (Coalition Avenir Québec) to demand better pay and improved working conditions for workers in schools, health and social services, and higher education. The government is about to provide MNAs with an immediate 30% pay raise, while offering those employed in public services with an increase that is ten times smaller for the same period: 3% as of April 1, 2023. As a result of these contemptuous offers, the Front commun was given the mandate to ratchet up the pressure on the Québec government, and is now preparing to start the process that will eventually give it the right to strike. The labour coalition’s goal is to make sure key instruments are available in case the government forces it to use them. For more information, see the joint press release. | | HEALTH CARE REFORM (PLAN SANTÉ)
Dubé reform: the APTS urges the government to change course As part of special consultations on Bill 15 – the proposed law to make the health and social services system more efficient – the APTS urged the government on May 9 to renounce the bill in its current form. The measures included in Bill 15 will have a negative impact on the quality of care and services, will burden taxpayers with higher costs, and will degrade the work environment for employees. “Logically, we need a 180-degree turn away from the directions proposed by Bill 15,” said APTS president Robert Comeau. “This bill, which takes direct inspiration from Alberta, offers misguided solutions based on flawed premises. Opening up to the private sector and hypercentralization under the Santé Québec agency are two examples. To get out of our current quagmire, we need solutions based on true decentralization, a real movement towards greater democracy, and a completely public and universal model.” | Petition to keep our health care and social services public: only a few days left to sign! While the Dubé reform, via Bill 15, provides for an increase in the use of the private sector in health and social services, unions in the public system are asking the government to focus primarily on the public sector and not to give in to the temptation of opening the health care market to the private sector. “The private sector is taking up funding and human resources that should be made available to the public system, yet it offers only services that are profitable, and takes every opportunity to increase prices as required by its profit-making imperative,” said union leaders in a statement of principles sent to Minister Dubé. “There is no room for commoditized health care, nor do we have the resources to pay for private-sector profits.” The inter-union coalition has launched a petition on the National Assembly website to defend the public character of our health and social services system. We urge you to sign it and share it with people around you before the petition closes on May 19. I'm signing | SOCIAL SECURITY
WEBINAR | Making sense of the RREGOP and other pension benefits Whether you’re at the beginning of your career or just about to retire, this webinar will give you the tools you need to optimize your participation in your pension plan. The webinar will take place on June 2 at 12 p.m. (in French). I'll be there * Sessions last about two hours. ** Union leave time cannot be granted for this type of meeting. If you have a question, write to retraite.assurance@aptsq.com. | | PROVINCIAL CONTRACT TALKS | SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION
Understanding public finances to better mobilize our forces Public finances are central to all provincial contract talks on our working conditions, and this time is no exception. Understanding the government's budgetary framework can allow you to see through the government's misinformation and communication strategies. This video was designed to give you the tools and arguments you need to explain at your next family dinner that the government has the means to do more! | SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION
The APTS marks the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia On May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the APTS invites you to listen to the experiences that some of our members have courageously accepted to share in this video produced by the APTS provincial committee on gender and sexual diversity. | These testimonies remind us that the fight against violence and discrimination directed towards people within a broad range of sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions is not over, and that we must keep fighting for the inclusion and the rights of everyone. Why not start by taking part in the Fondation Émergence's campaign? You can sign the petition to officialize the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia at the UN, or you can donate to the Foundation. Happy May 17th! | EVENT | Understanding and transforming our health and social services system While yet another health and social services system reform is underway, some people are presenting the opening of the system to the private sector as the most effective way of reducing waiting times in the network. However, IRIS (the Institut de recherche et d'informations socio-économiques) has repeatedly demonstrated the negative impacts of the private sector in this area. IRIS intends to keep up its intensive efforts to find solutions to improve the accessibility and quality of care and services, notably through the creation of the LaRISSS (Laboratoire de recherche et d'informations sur la santé et les services sociaux). Let's support them by participating in their fundraising event! | | ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Province-wide survey on expanding the scope of professional practices The province-wide survey on expanding professional practices ends this coming Wednesday, May 17 at 5 p.m. As part of our series of province-wide consultations on this issue, the APTS would like to know, regardless of your job title, about your experiences, opinions, hopes, and fears regarding the expansion of professional practices – which is why we’re asking you respond to our survey. Take the survey | | Realities facing our medical imaging, nuclear medicine, radiation oncology, and medical electrophysiology technologists A series of surveys conducted by the APTS among members who are medical imaging, nuclear medicine, radiation oncology, and medical electrophysiology technologists helps us understand their concerns in terms of work organization and professional issues. At a time when there is a shortage of labour, the government continues to implement a far-reaching reorganization of health and social services (Plan Santé), and waiting lists are getting longer, our technologists face many different challenges in their everyday work. We’ve summarized these challenges for you in this document. | | LOCAL CONTRACT TALKS
The CHU de Québec-Université Laval Research Centre: a confirmed agreement An agreement in principle was ratified on May 1 by animal health technicians, psychosocial research technicians and assistant heads employed by the Research Centre at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval. The new collective agreement was signed for a period of four years and offers the highest increases ever obtained for these members. A big thank you to the local executive for their hard work and to our members for their presence at all the meetings throughout these negotiations! | | | | | |
