VOLUME 9 No. 7 | APRIL 8, 2019

UNION LIFE
Elections for APTS provincial committees

At the General Council on May 8 and 9, elections will be held to fill vacant positions on APTS provincial committees.
The following positions will be up for election:
- 1 seat on the Provincial Feminist Action Committee
- 1 seat on the Provincial Socio-political Action Committee
- 4 seats on the Provincial LGBT+ Committee
- 1 seat on the Provincial Social Security Committee
- 1 seat on the Provincial Occupational Health and Safety and Sustainable Development Committee (SST-DD)

For details on these committees’ mandates and composition, visit their dedicated webpage.  

To run for these positions, you have to be part of an APTS bargaining unit. The notice of election, candidacy form and election procedure. The period for submitting candidacies closes at 8 am on April 18, 2019.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
We’re gearing up for Earth Week

We’re gearing up for Earth Week. Various calls to mobilize have been launched for the week following April 22, Earth Day. A collective of youth, student and environmental organizations is inviting the public to take part in a symbolic action in Québec City on Monday, April 22. Demonstrators will be invited to form a circle around the National Assembly to send elected MNAs the message: "Stop going around in circles – now!" The demands are for immediate legislative action and concrete measures to curb climate change. The APTS encourages you to take part in this action on a voluntary basis. 

On Saturday, April 27 in Montréal, the APTS invites its employees and members to take part, as activists, in a mass demonstration organized by La Planète s’invite au parlement and Le Jour de la Terre Québec. Follow the Fil@pts and the APTS Facebook page for details on these key events.

LABOUR RELATIONS
Arbitrator rescinds a disciplinary measure for breach of confidentiality  

The APTS successfully contested a disciplinary measure imposed on an employee for breach of confidentiality. The employer reproached her for having answered a request by a deputy coroner who wanted to know the identity of two service users thought to be linked to a current investigation. The employee believed that she was obliged to meet the deputy coroner’s request, and transmitted the information. The arbitrator was of the opinion that the deputy coroner constituted a person in authority and that the employer’s directives on this matter were far from clear. Documents filed as evidence and the testimonies of management representatives diverged in terms of the conduct required when faced with such a request. The arbitrator concluded that the employee hadn’t done anything wrong, and rescinded the measure imposed by the employer.

COMMUNICATIONS
Have an opinion you’d like to share? 

Our e-magazine, BlueAPTS, has an opinion section that is open to receive letters from members, along the lines of the “ideas” page in Le Devoir. The section also receives comments from readers who want to respond to the opinions presented. So far, not many members have used this section to share their ideas on the issues that concern them as health and social services professionals and technicians, or as citizens. We invite you to take advantage of this tribune by commenting on editorials and letters or sending in your own open letter (300 to 500 words) to info@aptsq.com.

SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION
Tax havens: an issue in the next federal election campaign?  

The anti-tax haven collective to which the APTS belongs, the Collectif Échec aux paradis fiscaux, is launching a campaign in anticipation of the federal elections next fall, to convince the parties to adopt its demands. Around the theme "12 measures to eliminate tax injustice," the collective proposes 12 clear solutions to curb the use of tax havens.

Demonstrating on May 1 for the kind of Québec we want  

"For the kind of Québec we want!" That’s the theme for this year’s International Workers’ Day. To mark the event, a demonstration will be held on Wednesday, May 1, in Montréal.

The APTS invites you all to meet at the Parc metro station, on the corner of Parc and Jean Talon, where our members will be converging. The march will kick off at 6 pm. Come and march for accessible, good quality public services that are free of charge, a public universal pharmacare plan, a fairer tax system, actions to fight climate change, and measures to ensure better family-work-study balance.