Tens of thousands of nurses and other health-care professionals are off the job Monday in Quebec as a deal with public sector workers remains off the table.
The Fédération Interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec or FIQ, which represents 80,000 nurses, licensed practical nurses and respiratory therapists, is holding a four-day strike. Essential services like emergency rooms remain open by law, but Quebecers can expect delays in health-care institutions.
The health-care workers’ walkout overlaps with other strikes, meaning more than 550,000 people will be on picket lines across the province this week.
“This is the last chance for the health-care system. This is why we are involved,” said Sacha Nelson, a respiratory therapist and vice-president of the FIQ union at the CHUM, a French-language hospital network in Montreal.
“If this is not a good negotiation and people don’t come back, I’m not sure the sector will survive another negotiation session.”
The unions rejected the province’s latest contract proposal made last week, which raised a base offer pay increase to 12.7 per cent over a five-year period. They say it doesn’t keep pace with inflation.
The FIQ has issued a counteroffer, asking for a 20 per cent salary increase over four years. Among the sticking points is a better work-life balance, but the government also wants more “flexibility” in certain areas, such as scheduling.
Julie Bouchard, president of the FIQ, said it’s still possible for a deal to be reached by the new year — but only if talks quickly progress.
“We can’t just be in intensive in intense negotiations,” she said Monday. “We must be in a blitz.”
Meanwhile, the Front Commun — a coalition of four unions representing 420,000 public sector workers in the education, social services and health sectors — is also on a week-long walkout that began last Friday.
Some 66,000 teachers who are members of the Fédération Autonome de l’Enseignement have been off the job since Nov. 23. The unlimited strike has closed around 800 public schools across the province.
On Sunday, representatives from the Common Front unions said they are expected to update members beginning in a week. If an agreement isn’t in place, they could launch an unlimited strike after the holidays.
— with files from Global’s Brayden Jagger Haines and The Canadian Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.