VOLUME 1 No. 9 | JANUARY 7, 2024

Presenting the tentative deal

On January 4, delegates to the APTS General Council endorsed the tentative deal achieved by your representatives at the bargaining tables. This deal will be presented to you at general assemblies over the course of the next weeks.

In brief, the proposed deal includes a general pay increase of 17.4%, that could go up to 20.4% as a result of a clause to protect your purchasing power; significant gains in terms of insurance and vacation leave; elements related to parental rights; and some improvements related to retirement. Details of the tentative deal achieved at the central table are presented in the Info-Négo newsletter.

See the Front commun's Info-négo newsletter

These gains are accompanied by improvements to working conditions that are specific to the realities of professionals and technicians in health and social services, and that have been won after a hard struggle thanks to the mobilization of APTS members and our Front commun colleagues, and the support received from Quebecers. The improvements will foster greater recognition for your expertise and should help reduce work overload and the labour shortage, which is why your delegates at the General Council endorsed the tentative deal and recommended that you vote for it at your general assembly.

In this newsletter, we present the highlights of the tentative deal regarding sectoral matters, which are specific to APTS members.

Review of premiums associated with specific settings or unwanted schedules

Almost all premiums will be organized in two structures, one for premiums associated with specific workplaces and one for premiums associated with evening, night and weekend shifts.

The review will make it possible, among other things, to increase premiums given to employees working full-time, to increase most of the premiums paid as a percentage of salary, and to change premiums paid as lump-sum amounts to premiums paid as a percentage. All of these premiums have become permanent; they no longer have an expiry date, unlike what was set out in the previous collective agreement.

Key elements:

• The evening-shift premium will go from 8% to 10% for people who work at least 70 hours per pay period.
• The weekend premium will go from 4% to 5% for all employees.
• The youth centre premium will rise to 10% of salary for employees working at least 70 hours per pay period, and to 7% for employees working 42 to 70 hours.
• In the radiation oncology sector, people working in brachytherapy (curietherapy) will now benefit from a premium that can reach 10% of their pay.
• A new premium will be created that can reach 5% of salary for people working in RACs (residential resources with continuous assistance) and residential care units in CRDIs (rehabilitation centres for clients with intellectual disabilities). This can amount to more than $2,700 a year.
• The lump sum given for working with clients who have severe behaviour disorders will become a premium that can reach 3.5% of a person’s salary, for a gain of more than $1,500 per year.
• All employees working in CHSLDs (long-term care centres) will be eligible for a $215 lump sum for every 750 hours worked.

Improvements to working conditions

The tentative deal also includes a series of measures to improve your working conditions in concrete terms.

Key elements:

• The overtime rate will go up to 200% for people working weekends in activity centres providing services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (some conditions apply).
• For employees holding a full-time position that requires membership in a professional order, 50% of the membership cost will be reimbursed, up to a maximum of $400 a year.
• The cost of a psychotherapist’s permit will be reimbursed, as well as some training costs related to some job titles.
• Financial compensation ranging from $50 to $100 a day will be offered to employees who agree to move, temporarily, to another facility.
• Access to some work-time arrangements will be made easier for employees.
• Interested teams will have the possibility of setting up projects to manage their own work schedules. The projects will be associated with premiums of up to $300 for every four weeks (some conditions apply).
• It will be possible to use up to six days of sick leave per year for personal reasons.
• A specific premium will be established for lawyers, and an inter-union working committee will be set up to analyze the overall remuneration of this job title in the health and social services system.

Work carried out in inter-round committees

Your union team and the employer will continue to work together on a number of provincial committees, including committees on workload and psychosocial risks, on professional issues specific to technicians and professionals in the health and social services system, and on improving the practices and reducing the administrative workload of youth workers.

In addition, the committee on employees working in certain territories facing acute problems of workforce availability will have a yearly $3M budget to deploy projects designed to attract and retain employees in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord, Gaspésie and Outaouais regions.

Stay tuned! Over the next few days, you’ll receive an invitation to sign up for your local general assembly. We urge you to attend. These are your bargaining talks, and the final decision is yours. This will be your opportunity to say if you’re for or against the tentative deal that will be presented to you.

Until then, we invite you to become familiar with the content of the deal and to discuss it with your colleagues and members of your local APTS team.

In solidarity,

Your bargaining team