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Demands from Quebec Public Sector Workers in Health and Social Services Interview, Jennifer Genest, Spokesperson for the Sectoral Table for the SQEES-FTQWorkers' Forum: How many members does the Quebec Union of Service Employees, affiliated with the Quebec Federation of Labour (SQEES-FTQ), represent, and what work do they do? Jennifer Genest: The SQEES represents 25,000 members across Quebec, mainly in the health and social services sector. It represents around 8,000 public sector workers from that sector. More precisely, they are found either in public establishments, such as the large CISSS and CIUSSS (Integrated Health and Social Services and Integrated University Health and Social Services) or in private establishments under agreement, which are health establishments managed by private employers but which benefit from the same working conditions as in the public sector. The SQEES is also the largest union in private residences for the elderly. WF: What is the main thrust of SQEES sectoral requests?
This is done by different means. For example, we are doing a lot of work on premiums. There are a multitude of premiums in the collective agreement, but they are ineffective and do not correspond to current needs. We are doing a lot of work to update the premiums and add many new ones. Training premiums are an example. Employees have an obligation to train new work colleagues. However, training premiums currently exist only for those workers in the nursing care category. The whole support and administrative staff trains the new workers for free, so to speak. This increases the work load of these workers but without any additional remuneration. We must make sure that the current benefits enshrined in the collective agreement apply, that workers have access to them. Take the issue of holidays and leave. The current collective agreement is adquate and even generous with regard to holidays and leave, and yet people do not have access to their statutory holidays because there is nobody to replace them. The same applies to various personal leaves, without pay, which require the agreement of the employer. The employer often does not grant them because we do not have the necessary staff to replace these people. There are many things in the collective agreement that do not materialize. There are critical care premiums in highly specialized services, such as psychiatric emergency services. These premiums are only accessible to nursing staff. They are not for support staff or administrative workers who are just as likely to be hit by aggressive patients. Our other main demand concerns health and safety. Rates of physical or psychological injuries have exploded in the health network since the 2015 reform, courtesy of Health Minister Barrette. It's catastrophic. The sums involved are astronomical and there is no prevention done in a concrete and effective way in the health network. The Act respecting occupational health and safety provides for various mechanisms for enforcing prevention in establishments, but these are based on the assessment of the level of risk that exists. There are six categories of employers in the act, but prevention mechanisms are mandatory only in sectors designated as priority sectors, and the health care network is not a priority sector. Besides what is provided for in collective agreements, which is not really binding, employers have no legal obligation to do prevention. However, prevention is the key to success in reducing the level of injuries. It is high time that the health and social services network be recognized as a priority sector by law. In the event that there is no legislative change, the same prevention mechanisms will have to be provided for through collective agreements. The explosion in the rate of injuries revolves around the shortage of personnel. When there is a shortage of staff, there is an overload of work and when this happens there can be two consequences: a psychological consequence because the burden is such that the workers have to take a leave of absence because of burnout; physical consequences because overworked workers have to work in less than optimal conditions, work alone when there are supposed to be two of them, and work very quickly. This causes accidents. Employers cannot hire the necessary staff for budgetary reasons. With the 2015 reform, when the establishments were merged, the budgets for hiring staff were all frozen. We have to do more with less. At the same time, there are many available positions that are posted, but that we are unable to fill because of the conditions. In addition, in the employers' responses to our demands at the sectoral table, we were given the line that we need to keep doing more with less, that we must keep changing work schedules, or deny people's right to work/family balance, which is a hard-won gain from the negotiations for the last collective agreement. In conclusion, health and safety is a priority with regard to the SQEES. Of equal priority is the promotion of jobs in the health network by improving working conditions, respecting current working conditions which are included in the collective agreement, retaining those who are currently working and attracting the next generation of workers.
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