FINANCIAL SERVICES AND AUDIT OFFICE
Strike pay

Good news: as of this writing, 90% of a total of over 200,000 claims for strike pay have been processed and paid. If you haven’t yet submitted your claims, we urge you to do so as soon as possible. The deadline for making a claim is March 31, 2024.

ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
A voice for children

It’s been a long wait, but we’re almost there: Québec will soon have a Commissioner for Children's Well-Being and Rights. Parliamentary hearings will begin this week on Bill 37, the legislation that will create the new position. This is a giant step forward for Québec’s children, who will finally have a voice speaking on their behalf. The APTS will submit an advisory opinion at the hearings, arguing, among other things, that budgets for all youth missions must be protected. You can read it here (in French).

Research project on fear of reprisals

Do you sometimes think twice about taking action as a health and social services professional because you’re afraid of retaliatory measures? Might this even short-circuit your role as an agent of change, preventing you from advocating for service users or promoting equal access to services?

A new research project will focus on this topic and is asking for your participation. If you’d like to contribute, all you have to do is take 20 to 30 minutes, outside your work hours, to complete an online questionnaire (in French).
If you have any questions, write to projetacs@usherbrooke.ca.

LABOUR RELATIONS
Côte-Nord: ending the code of silence

What if hunting down whistleblowers were finally coming to an end? It looks as if that might be happening, at least in the Côte-Nord region where the APTS and the regional CISSS have reached a historic agreement. The employer now recognizes that employees have the right to act as whistleblowers, and that the union has a right to denounce situations in public, as long as all relevant laws and legal precedents are respected.

This is the end of a long battle between the APTS and the CISSS after two educators working for youth protection in Baie-Comeau were suspended in 2021. Rebuffed by a provisional arbitration ruling in March 2023, the employer finally threw in the towel and decided to correct the situation.

SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION
February: Black History Month

Do you know when Québec adopted February as Black History Month? It all started in the United States, where Negro History Week was established in 1926 and became Black History Month fifty years later. Canada followed suit in 1995, and Québec adopted a law to join the movement in 2007 after a consultation process on Black communities’ participation in Québec society.

Glossary on cultural diversity

What is the difference between integration and inclusion? What about unconscious bias, stereotypes, and prejudice? What is intersectional gender analysis? If you want to fight discrimination but don’t know how to go about it, our new glossary on cultural diversity is a great place to start. It will give you a better understanding of key issues relating to diversity. Our provincial committee on cultural diversity invites you to view it online.

Phony budget consultations

Finance minister Éric Girard recently launched consultations on Québec’s 2024-2025 budget, which is coming up in March. One highly objectionable aspect of the consultations is apparent: he is soliciting the views of people who, unsurprisingly, are on the same page as him. This biased approach was sharply criticized by the Coalition Main rouge in an open letter (in French) recently signed by thirty organizations, including the APTS. Worth reading if you want to find out how to “pack” a consultation process.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Congratulations to the award winners!

At the 2023 Gala Célébration Excellence organized by the CIUSSS-du-Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal on October 25, the award for attracting and retaining personnel was given to the joint team that launched the OHS Coach project.

Congratulations for this well-deserved honour to Jonathan Bossé (OHS director) and Samuel Thomas (OHS delegate) (pictured), OHS coaches Chaning Vaugeois and Audrey-Anne Girard, and union counsellors Benoit Messier and Christian Constantin.

The OHS Coach project, a product of the Forum on employees’ overall health, is designed to improve prevention by training people to become coaches and having them provide OHS support to workers on the ground.