Volume 13 No. 6 | March 21, 2023

The APTS in General Council
Looking back at the March 2023 General Council

The second APTS General Council for 2023 was held on March 14, 15, and 16 in Lévis. As we get closer to the date on which our collective agreements expire, this was an opportunity to take stock of our efforts to advance provincial contract talks and to learn more about the political and economic context in which these talks are taking place. Delegates also had the pleasure of welcoming Front commun spokespersons and were able to understand what members of our partner organizations are experiencing, show solidarity on the basis of shared issues, and discuss upcoming mobilization actions.

The General Council also included a presentation, followed by workshops, on the second phase of our political campaign on the theme A strong union for a strong public system; a status report on work relating to the plan to reform the health-care system (Plan Santé); an overview of the first year in which the Act to modernize the occupational health and safety regime was in force; and a presentation on responses to a survey of APTS members working in addiction rehabilitation centres (CRDs).

REFORM OF THE HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM
Bill on independent labour puts the cart before the horse

March 14 was the first day of special consultations on Bill 10, intended to limit the use of personnel placement agencies and independent labour in the health and social service system. The APTS welcomed the government’s initiative while urging MNAs in a parliamentary committee to adopt measures ensuring that the public system’s release from the private sector is permanent and carried out in the most appropriate way. First and foremost among these measures would be urgent action to improve the working conditions of health and social service employees.

“Bill 10 puts the cart before the horse,” said APTS president Robert Comeau. “To end the system’s dependence on placement agencies, the government needs to recognize the value of work carried out in our public system, provide employees with better working conditions, and make sure they can achieve an appropriate balance between work, family, and personal life.”

Robert Comeau also emphasized a glaring omission in the bill: it fails to deal with services purchased from private suppliers, leaving the door wide open to the private sector, particularly with regard to services provided by professional and technical personnel. For more information on APTS recommendations, see our brief (in French) and our press release.

SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION
2023-2024 budget: live reactions from the APTS

Québec’s finance minister, Eric Girard, will table his budget today. Join 2nd APTS vice-president Émilie Charbonneau and research officer Philippe Hurteau for a spontaneous off-the-cuff discussion on how promised tax cuts will affect funding for the health and social service system. Don’t wait – click now to confirm you’ll be there! We’ll be on Facebook at 6.15 p.m. for online exchanges.

PAY EQUITY AND SALARY RELATIVITY
Value of the biomedical engineering technical coordinator job: unions win their case

On February 28, the Québec Superior Court ruled in favour of unions defending the value of the biomedical engineering technical coordinator job, dismissing the employer’s claim that the arbitrator had been unreasonable. The court confirmed that these professionals must be given ranking 18 in the salary scale, thus putting an end – or so we hope – to a long-standing legal dispute between the unions and the MSSS (ministry of health and social services).

For more information, see our joint letter.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Updated brochure on Protective leave or reassignment for pregnant or breast-feeding workers

The brochure on Protective leave or reassignment for pregnant or breast-feeding workers has been updated based on a series of changes made to the Act to modernize the occupational health and safety regime on January 1, 2023. The brochure explains the procedure for obtaining a certificate of protective leave or reassignment and provides tools for managing any issues that may arise once the certificate has been submitted.

SOCIAL SECURITY
You can now add dental care coverage at any time

As of April 1, you will no longer be required to wait until January 1 to add the optional dental care plan to your group insurance coverage – you’ll be able to do it at any time. Your new coverage will be available as of the first pay period following your request, unless you’re on disability leave; in that case, the dental plan will be added to your coverage when your return to work is complete. This change, which eliminates a number of administrative inconveniences, will have no impact on the cost of the dental insurance plan.

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 webinar will give you the tools you need to optimize your participation in your pension plan.

Different dates and times are provided to ensure that as many of you as possible are able to participate in these information sessions.

Here are the dates of upcoming webinars (in French):

  • March 29, from noon to 2 p.m.  Register
  • April 17, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  Register

* Sessions last about two hours.

** Please note that union leave time cannot be granted for this type of meeting.

If you have a question, please write to us at retraite.assurance@aptsq.com.

 

Social security resource person - RREGOP and SSQ group insurance program

If you have any questions about retirement or group insurance, feel free to contact the social security technician. This resource person is available to provide you with information and answer your questions about RREGOP (the Government and Public Employees Retirement Plan) and the SSQ group insurance plan. They also prepare RREGOP pension estimates. You can write to them at retraite.assurance@aptsq.com.

FEMINIST ACTION
March 8: displaying our feminist resistance

On International Women’s Rights Day, about a hundred activists from the Front commun – 78% of whose members are women – gathered before the Treasury Board Secretariat to protest against government offers that will make workers poorer. Inflation is expected to reach 16.6% over the next five years, according to the government’s most recent economic update, and yet the proposed pay increase for the same period is only 9%. When public sector salaries aren’t keeping up, those losing out are mostly women. For more information, see our joint press release.

International Women’s Rights Day was also an opportunity to organize a wide range of local activities acknowledging and promoting women’s rights: flash mob, collection of items to be donated, quiz activities, booths, video clips. Playful or educational, intended to mobilize people or bring them together for a social activity, these celebrations – like our feminist resistance – took many forms. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with your local executive's latest news!

LABOUR RELATIONS
$800,000 settlement for Human Resource Development Plan grievances on the North Shore

The CISSS de la Côte-Nord and the APTS have agreed on an $800,000 settlement for multiple grievances filed between 2016 and 2019. These grievances essentially challenged the employer’s payment of expenses for certain training sessions out of the Human Resource Development Plan (PDRH) budget when, as the APTS maintained, the trainings in question did not fit the definition agreed upon under Article 413 of the local provisions of the collective agreement. Discussions are ongoing regarding other grievances filed for the same reasons during the period from 2019 to 2022. The APTS local team wants to highlight the major contribution of the people who have been involved in this case since 2016, including members of the local executive, union counsellors, and provincial representatives. The settlement was made possible by excellent work in the area of research, documentation and analysis.

ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Support Québec's future social service technicians

On March 1, the APTS took part in a mobilization action organized by the Regroupement des Enseignantes et Enseignants en Techniques de Travail Social (REECETSQ) in front of the office of MNA Chantal Rouleau to demand that she include social service technology in the programs of study supported by the Québec Perspective scholarship program. APTS 2nd vice-president Émilie Charbonneau stressed that it would be unthinkable to deny students in the CEGEP social service technology program access to these scholarships at a time when the social service sector faces a serious labour shortage.