PAY EQUITY AND SALARY RELATIVITY
Answers on the settlement for 2010 pay equity complaints

As you know, our pay equity maintenance complaints from 2010 were finally settled this summer after a ten-year battle. Many of you have questions about the settlement, and we’ve created an online FAQ to answer them. It’s available in the Pay equity and salary relativity section of the APTS website.

COMMUNICATIONS
Labour shortage in the health and social services system: Legault government still wearing blinders

On Saturday, an open letter from the APTS appeared in several news outlets, reminding the Legault government that using decrees, threats and coercion to manage the health and social services system will only strip it of an indispensable workforce. “Work overload is having the same effect. Waiting lists can be as long as four years for a cardiac sonography at the CISSS de l’Outaouais. For a politician, that’s an entire term in office!” APTS interim president Robert Comeau goes on to highlight the importance of a comprehensive and concerted approach in order to find innovative solutions to the problem. Read the entire letter here [in French]: https://bit.ly/3EBQs6Y.

SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION
Global protest for climate justice

On September 24, we invite you to join the APTS union contingent at the climate justice protests in Montréal and Québec City. We’ll be at the following meet-up points starting at 12:30 p.m.:

• Québec City: the entrance to Théâtre Diamant
• Montréal: the corner of Du Parc and Duluth

For more details, consult the Facebook events for the protests:

• Québec City: https://bit.ly/3AhUrmy
• Montréal: https://bit.ly/3luiZlZ.

WEBINAR | Health and social services: privatization in every shape and form

Increasing privatization in the health and social services system is entwined with many changing realities, from the shift towards ambulatory care to Bill 30, Bill 10, the pandemic, and the use of independent workers. Join us for a webinar on September 29 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. to discuss all forms of privatization with presenters Émilie Charbonneau, 4^th vice-president, and Guillaume Plourde, sociopolitical action research officer. We’ll have a surprise announcement for you during the session, so don’t miss it!

Zoom link: https://bit.ly/3AohDje
Meeting ID: 952 8367 0256
Passcode: 315314

FEMINIST ACTION
World March of Women: Two final actions on October 17

Unfortunately, given the current COVID-19 public health measures, the World March of Women won’t be able to end their year of action with a large in-person gathering as initially planned. Instead, the Québec organizers for the March, the CQMMF, will hold two final actions on October 17 to emphasize its fifth and last demand:

• National action: The CQMMF will hold a morning press conference in Montréal’s Cabot Square and livestream it to Facebook. The conference will look back at the CQMMF’s five demands, especially the final one: justice for Indigenous women. We encourage Montréal activists to attend in person and others to join us on Facebook Live.
• Local action: We invite you to organize gatherings, marches, protests, press conferences, etc. on October 17 at 1 p.m. We’ll send you official resources from the CQMMF shortly. It’s recommended that participants wear red clothing as a gesture of awareness and support for missing Indigenous women. We’d love to hear about your plans and initiatives on the APTS Facebook page!

Résistons pour vivre! Marchons pour transformer! We resist to live, we march to transform.

SOCIAL SECURITY
WEBINAR | Making sense of the RREGOP and other pension benefits

Webinars on your pension plan are back by popular demand! Stay tuned for the next issue of Fil@apts, which will provide dates (beginning in late October) and signup links. There will be both afternoon and evening sessions, and a webinar in English. Until then, if you have pressing questions, don’t hesitate to contact our team at retraite.assurance@aptsq.com.

Retraite Québec - My Account

You can now use the “My Account” service on the Retraite Québec website to track your application for a retirement pension or your pension estimate. You must first register for My Account. Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be able to access information and documents such as statements of participation, deposits, and pension benefits; dates and amounts for upcoming family allowance payments; and tax slips. If you have technical problems with the site, please contact Retraite Québec’s customer service.

ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
OPTMQ: Rushed estates-general

Responding to the acute labour shortage in the public system’s clinical labs, the Ordre professionnel des technologistes médicaux du Québec (OPTMQ) will be holding estates-general on September 22. The APTS will participate in the event even though it was organized too quickly for effective and enduring solutions to emerge. Rather than blindly endorse this way of doing things, we’ll be there to advocate for a serious, inclusive and concrete exercise that will actually benefit Quebecers. Recognizing the work of laboratory professionals, and better conditions of practice, will undoubtedly be necessary. The APTS has been asking the MSSS for data on its workforce planning since 2016, to no avail. More on this as it develops.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Occupational cancer: A practical guide for action

Occupational cancers are the result of exposure to one or more carcinogens in the workplace. The frequency of these cancers is hard to estimate, partly because they can take years to manifest. The IRSST (Robert-Sauvé occupational health and safety research institute) just published a guide called “Quel est le fardeau des cancers d’origine professionnelle au Québec?” (“What is the burden of occupational cancer in Quebec?”). The document contains information on the 11 most common workplace carcinogens. For each one, the guide summarizes ways of reducing or eliminating exposure, including technical and administrative methods and the use of personal protective equipment.