Quebec Health Workers Oppose Ministerial Decrees
The Profound, Objective Need for New Arrangements
- Pierre Soublière - 
November 6, 2020. Protest at Gatineau Hospital against ministerial decrees.
For the past few weeks in Quebec, in particular in the face
of the second wave of the
pandemic and the refusal of the Quebec government to
mobilize the people to
overcome the problems, the gap between the authority and legitimacy
of the government
and the conditions created by the modern productive forces of a
highly socialized
economy is widening.
In the forefront are the health care workers who are more
and more expressing their discontent and who keep putting forward the solutions which
will allow them to ensure their own protection and security as well as
that of patients and residents in their care. The inescapable priority,
that of improving working conditions, is being heard far and
wide. These improvements are not vague ideas but are put forward as
very precise, concrete measures in terms of staff/patient ratio, stable
work schedules, etc. Along with these measures, there is a growing
general preoccupation with regards to the fate of our elders, and one
of the questions which arises is why it is left up to private
interests,
whose sole motive is profit, to care for our loved ones. There is also
a consensus to the effect that the capacity of the health system to
curb the coronavirus has been undermined by decades of cutbacks,
contracting out, privatization and anti-social reforms which have
rendered the health care system more and more inaccessible, and
certainly not
sound enough to overcome crises such as the present pandemic.
 Faced
with these proposals from the workers but also from various sectors of
the population, the response of the Legault government, besides its
usual initial show of supposed "empathy," is to continue with business
as usual, following its own agenda by imposing ministerial decrees and
issuing threats. These ministerial decrees in health care
have made the situation worse, as they have allowed employers to
continue worsening employees' working conditions, with dangerous
consequences for the latter as well as for the people in their care. In
certain homes for the elderly, where there have been new outbreaks with
the second wave, one employer stated that one of the measures it had
taken was to hire security guards to make rounds to make sure everyone
is "respecting the directives!"
When the Quebec government announced it would once again close gyms,
restaurants and cinemas, a number of owners raised that when they had
reopened in the wake of the first wave, they had complied with the
guidelines of public health authorities, and that to close once again
would surely lead them to bankruptcy. The Legault
government, which, along with its predecessors, always claim to be the
greatest allies of small and medium-sized enterprises, refused to
listen. One association representing over 200 gyms in Quebec waged a
campaign to explain how their services actually contribute to the
physical and mental well-being of the population, and how, with the
proper
measures taken, gyms have not been a source of outbreaks. When the
spokespersons suggested that they would perhaps defy government orders
and stay open, the Legault government threatened to impose stiff fines
on whoever would show up at these gyms.
An association of 700 doctors, called the Quebec Coalition for the
Decentralization of the Health System, has stated that it was held back
by local administrations in their efforts to "adopt concrete measures
and solutions to curb the pandemic in healthcare institutions." It
raises that autonomy of personnel on the ground is even more essential
during this second wave, as the system must treat not only patients
with COVID-19 but also those suffering from cancer or heart attacks,
and this in the midst of serious staff shortages. The first attempts
of the association to speak with the government were in June, and the
Legault government continues to rebuff its attempts to meet.
Also, recently, in an open letter concerning the fact that Gatineau
has been declared a "red zone," the Mayor of Gatineau made the
following point: "It is clear that uniquely from the public health
perspective, we should be in an orange zone, even light orange... Why
is this? It is the weakness of our health system, which is another
criterion to
determine zone colours, and of which little is said. The directors of
public health in the Outaouais and across Quebec make this very clear:
were it not for the frailty of the health system in the Outaouais, the
low number of available beds, nurses and doctors, we would be in an
orange zone. We are, again today, victims of decades of negligence in
terms of investing in health." The mayor goes on to say that were it
not for this injustice, "we could break the isolation which weighs
heavily upon us, our elderly would suffer less, and we would lose fewer
jobs, since, for the most part, job losses are in the sectors which
would still be open were we an orange zone."
Society is crying out for new arrangements whereby all sections of
the people, starting with the workers, are called upon to play their
part to overcome the problems at hand, the present one as well as all
the others. New forms are necessary to find solutions to social
problems, in consideration of individual and collective interests and
those of
society as a whole, in a democratic movement. Attempts to criminalize
the demands, views and proposals of the people and their organizations
is part of the problem and constitutes a major hindrance to the
democratic advancement of society.
This article was published in
Number 81 - December 1, 2020
Article Link:
Quebec Health Workers Oppose Ministerial Decrees: The Profound, Objective Need for New Arrangements - Pierre Soublière
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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