PROVINCIAL CONTRACT TALKS
The APTS goes back to the bargaining table

At a meeting on September 30, Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel showed an open attitude towards the APTS and was willing to hear its concerns. The parties have now agreed to go back to the bargaining table in order to renew the collective agreement. At the meeting, union representatives told Ms. LeBel that professionals and technicians are angry and disappointed with the Legault government, which seems unwilling to recognize the true value of their work.

“We have a message from our members: they want measures to reduce work overload and help the system attract and retain employees.” — APTS interim president Robert Comeau

For more information, read our press release.

LABOUR RELATIONS
Key facts about mandatory vaccination

Who is required to be adequately protected against COVID-19? What does “adequately protected” mean? What contraindications are recognized as grounds for exemption? Vaccination will soon be mandatory for health and social services employees, and we’ve created an online FAQ to answer your questions.

APTS wins arbitration case involving biomedical engineering technical coordinators

When biomedical engineering technical coordinators were integrated into the top echelon of the new salary structure on April 2, 2019, the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est employer included their premiums in its calculations, which meant that they reached the top echelon but did not move off the rate or off the scale. The employees were therefore losing money.

We argued that this was a violation of the collective agreement, which stipulated that no employee should suffer any loss of pay. The arbitrator agreed with us and has ordered the employer to pay the off-the-rate or off-the-scale salary retroactively to April 2, 2019, as should have been done in the first place. Given this victory, we hope other employers who applied the collective agreement in this way will see reason.

ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Long-term care for adults: how to create inclusive, high-quality living environments

The APTS has issued an advisory opinion in response to the policy on housing and long-term care and services put forward by Marguerite Blais, minister responsible for seniors and informal caregivers. The action plan to be unveiled by the government this fall is supposed to create living environments “reflecting who we are”, and the APTS document outlines five recommendations to make sure this can actually happen.

Read the five recommendations in this BleuAPTS recap, or look at the full advisory opinion on our website (in French).

WEBINAR | Front-line home support in Québec

Between November 2019 and February 2020, the APTS worked with Maude Benoît, a researcher and professor of political science at UQAM, to conduct an online survey on the realities of working in home support services for seniors in Québec. Thank you to our many members who completed the survey!

Professor Benoît and her team will be presenting the main takeaways from this research project in a webinar entitled “Que se passe-t-il aux premières lignes du soutien à domicile au Québec?” (“What’s happening on the front lines of home support in Québec?”). The presentation (in French) will be followed by a Q&A period, and a report will be made available on the État 21 website.

When: October 19, from noon to 1 p.m. Sign up for free at https://uqam.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OeQpkqgdQ0mtZDiBjGc7lA

We hope many of you will attend the event. Feel free to share the invitation on social media!

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
PANELS | Occupational health and safety during COVID-19

Health and social services unions have worked together to organize three panels on occupational health and safety during COVID-19 (in French).

We’ll be discussing the issue with Luc Bhérer, medical specialist in occupational health, and Marie-Claude Letellier, medical specialist in public health and preventive medicine, both joining in a personal capacity.

October 6: How can we protect health and social services employees from COVID-19?

October 13: Psychosocial risks and the pandemic

October 20: What lessons can we learn about effective prevention?

Adoption of Bill 59, An Act to modernize the occupational health and safety regime

A widely condemned bill on occupational health and safety was voted into law on September 30 while the APTS and many other unions protested outside the National Assembly. Bill 59 is a major setback for victims of employment injuries, and it weakens prevention mechanisms such as health and safety committees that were established under the original Act. The APTS will keep on fighting for real prevention systems in the workplace.

SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION
Reducing doctors' pay to fund health and social services

The Legault government claims to be searching for solutions that will “revolutionize” the health and social services system. According to Anne Plourde and Philippe Hurteau, we don’t need to look very far:

“Physicians’ compensation has skyrocketed over the past 15 years, and it will have to be cut if we want to restore funding to a level that will meet the system’s needs and provide Quebecers with ongoing care and services. There’s no way around this.”

To learn more about the research that led to this conclusion, read (and share!) the IRIS report (in French).

Municipal elections: I vote for my health

The November 7 municipal elections are fast approaching. Our towns and cities have major effects on the social determinants of our health, and the APTS supports the “I vote for my health” initiative to make health and urban planning issues a prominent part of upcoming debates.

Resources provided by the campaign make it easy to tell candidates we want them to commit to urban planning that benefits our health. We hope you’ll use them!

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 information meeting on “Making sense of the RREGOP and other pension benefits” will give you the tools you need to optimize your participation in your pension plan.

The webinar will be offered on two dates (in French) so that as many of our members as possible can participate. Join us on October 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. or November 2 from noon to 2 p.m.

Click HERE to sign up.

Sessions last about two hours. Union leave time cannot be granted for this type of meeting.

A session in English will be offered before the end of the year (date to be announced).

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to write to us at retraite.assurance@aptsq.com.