Looking back at the General Council

The last General Council (October 5-7) saw lively debates on a variety of issues, including provincial contract talks, the continuum of care and services for seniors, and the impact of artificial intelligence on professionals and technicians in the health and social services system. To get the gist of these debates, see the most recent issue of The APTS in General Council.

PROVINCIAL CONTRACT TALKS
APTS members mobilize all over Québec

Given the government’s prolonged silence in the context of our current so-called “talks,” the APTS has no choice but to maintain and increase our mobilization. Since our last demonstration on October 20 before the Treasury Board Secretariat in Montréal, local teams in various institutions have started organizing visibility actions in Lanaudière, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean and Mauricie—Centre-du-Québec. Today, your colleagues from Montérégie showed up in front of Christian Dubé’s riding office to make their indignation clear, and employees in Montréal, the Laurentians, Estrie, Laval and Abitibi will be making their voices heard over the next few days. Contact your local executive to take part in these events and help strengthen our position!

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Once again, the APTS emphasizes the need for vaccination

The APTS continues to encourage members to get the vaccine – this is the best way of ending the COVID-19 pandemic and protecting everyone’s health and safety. And in fact, close to 97% of professionals and technicians employed in health and social services have already received at least one dose.

At the same time, the APTS is still firmly opposed to mandatory vaccination. Ostracism and coercion are contrary to our values and interfere with our ability to provide accessible, high-quality public services.

ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
The APTS will provide food for thought at the coroner's inquiry

Josée Fréchette, 5th APTS vice-president, and Julie Desrosiers, coordinator of the organization of work and professional issues sector, will be testifying on November 8 at coroner Géhane Kamel’s inquiry into CHSLD deaths during the first wave of the pandemic. Among other things, Fréchette and Desrosiers will focus on the specific expertise of APTS members employed in CHSLDs and will explain how important it is to improve their conditions of practice in order to guarantee the quality of care and services provided to seniors. You’ll be able to watch the hearings: when the link is made available, we’ll post it on our Facebook page.

FEMINIST ACTION
Help SOS Violence Conjugale fight domestic violence

You can help fight domestic violence by getting the official T-shirt associated with the “Un pour toutes – Une pour toutes” campaign (“One for all”). Every T-shirt sold will provide $7 for SOS Violence Conjugale, an organization whose mission is to help ensure the safety of victims and reduce domestic violence and its impact. This is a great way of supporting an organization that offers crucial protection to women facing violent partners and to their children.

SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION
L'APTS en alerte : your issues, your allies

The socio-political action sector is proud to present the first issue of a new publication, L’APTS en alerte. (It’s currently online in French, and will soon be available in English.)

In each number, L’APTS en alerte will present an important issue and introduce a coalition, group, or organization that the APTS is working with to defend you and your vision of the health and social services system.

This first issue takes a look at the use of independent workers (a form of privatization) and introduces the Coalition Solidarité Santé. We hope you’ll enjoy it.

LECTURE | Justice and solidarity as we exit the crisis

Decades of neoliberal management, austerity, and budget cuts have left their mark – and the pandemic has made their impact worse. Now we have to rebuild what was destroyed.

A lecture sponsored by the Coalition Main Rouge on November 23, at 3 p.m., will argue that we can make budget decisions designed to meet the needs of all Quebecers and we can mobilize to establish a more just society.

LGBTQI+ rights: no going back

Québec’s Bill 2, requiring once again that trans, non-binary and intersex people undergo surgery before they can change their sex on identity documents, is a huge setback for LGBTQ1+ rights. By forcing them to maintain a birth assignation that contradicts their identity, justice minister Simon Jolin-Barrette is not just negating what was gained over 15 years ago. He is also adding to their distress and exposing them to stigmatization, discrimination, and violence.

We encourage you to take a minute to contact your MNA using the form developed (in French) by one of our allies, the Conseil Québécois LGBT. Major changes are needed to ensure we get a law that truly respects human rights.

On November 6, let's march to fight climate change

On Saturday, November 6, come out and join thousands of workers marching to denounce our government’s lack of ambition in terms of climate change and to demand measures that will be enable us actually to meet the greenhouse gas targets set out in the Paris Agreement.

The Québec march, a peaceful, family-oriented event organized in the context of COP26, is linked to some 75 demonstrations and actions taking place throughout the world.

Where: Sir George-Étienne Cartier monument at the foot of Mount Royal

When: Noon

Suggestion: To be part of the action, bring a green scarf or piece of fabric.