Militant Protests in Quebec Against Abusive Ministerial Orders
- Pierre Chénier -
FIQ organizes a camp in front of Montreal
Geriatrics University Institute, June 2, 2020.
Health and social services workers continue to
demonstrate against ministerial orders issued by
the executive of the Quebec government that
gives the minister and health administrations
the power to cancel negotiated collective
agreements and unilaterally modify working
conditions in the sector. The outrage of calling
health care workers "guardian angels" while
denying their rights and viewing them as a kind
of cannon fodder who must simply obey and
perhaps even die due to orders over which they
have no say, is a matter of great concern to all
workers.
 As summer
approaches, the protests are very much focused
on the issue of vacations, as workers in the
sector face exhaustion, the possibility of
second wave of COVID-19 in the coming months,
and great pressure from health administrations
to cancel or postpone vacations and leaves.
On June 2, the Interprofessional Health Care
Federation of Quebec (FIQ) launched a two-day
camp in front of the University Institute of
Geriatrics of Montreal to protest against health
care employers who are relying on the
government's ministerial order to deny the
vacation rights of health care professionals as
provided for in their collective agreement. The
theme of the action is "Forced camping: this is
where we spend the summer."
FIQ members are asking employers to reach an
agreement with their local union on vacation
terms and conditions. In an interview on June 2,
FIQ President Nancy Bédard said that a total of
seven Integrated Health and Social Services
Centres (CISSS) and Integrated University Health
and Social Services Centres (CIUSSS) have still
not reached an agreement with their respective
FIQ union on vacation time.
"Health care professionals throughout Quebec
must have rest. It is a priority in order to
care for our patients and to continue to fight
the COVID-19 pandemic. It is high time that
these recalcitrant employers took action! When
we take the time to sit down, we find solutions
without resorting to ministerial orders. Health
care professionals, who have been in combat for
almost three months, must have this moment of
respite because their physical and mental health
is at stake. This rest will be beneficial for
them as well as for all patients," said Bédard
in the June 2 FIQ press release.
On May 28, the more than 6,200 workers of the
Laurentides CISSS, who are organized in the
Health and Social Services' Workers' Union in
Laurentides-CSN, began daily demonstrations in
front of the CISSS' various establishments to
demand confirmation that their vacations be
respected.
 In its May 28
press release, the union indicates that CISSS
management is using the ministerial orders,
imposed by the Legault government on March 21,
to restrict access to leaves and vacations. It
warns the CISSS against this practice and asks
the CEO to send a signal that vacations will be
upheld.
"While staff were already exhausted before the
pandemic arrived, every effort must be made to
prevent workers from falling in battle. We call
upon the people of the region to support the
guardian angels and to show their support in the
coming days by honking their horns. Your support
can make a difference," writes union president
Dominic Presseault.
Also, on May 28, the four unions of the Mont r
gie-Ouest CISSS (CISSSMO) organized a
demonstration to demand respite and standardized
working conditions. In a press release the
unions write that for CISSSMO workers, the
COVID-19 crisis "dangerously undermines a system
that is already seriously weakened by years of
cuts and restructuring." The four unions are the
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local
3247, the local executive of the Alliance of the
Professional and Technical Health and Social
Services Staff (APTS), the FIQ-Union of Health
Care Professionals of Montérégie-Ouest, and the
Workers' Union of CISSSMO-Estrie-CSN.
The event took the form of a convoy of cars
that traveled along several major arteries in
the area covered by the CISSS.
"Since March, the ministerial orders and
managers have, among other things, disrupted
schedules and assignments, lengthened working
hours and travel to work, moved staff to
completely disorganized private residences and
long-term care facilities, canceled vacations
and leaves, and so on," the press release
states. "These difficulties were combined with
major challenges such as the issue of child care
and the implementation of health protection
measures. In order to be able to cope with the
next wave of contamination, workers are calling
for a break."
The press release points out that the CISSSMO
workers are demanding that managers work with
them to assess real staffing needs, to find
solutions and lighten the burden, and that they
listen to them instead of being the instrument
of ministerial dictate.
This article was published in
Number 39 - June 9, 2020
Article Link:
Militant Protests in Quebec Against Abusive Ministerial Orders - Pierre Chénier
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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