(Quebec) Christian Dubé hopes to be able to deploy 500 health workers on the North Shore, Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Outaouais to put out fires in the network this summer. Furthermore, it is a “matter of days” before the first caregivers arrive, assures the minister.
“I was told that the hirings would be signed no later than tomorrow [June 20], as we had agreed,” argued the Minister of Health, upon his arrival at the Council of Ministers. The first cohorts will be deployed on the ground in the last week of June, he added.
The North Shore will receive the first workers, then Abitibi-Témiscamingue and then Outaouais. “It’s a matter of days,” assured the minister.
La Presse reported Tuesday that the Côte-Nord and Abitibi-Témiscamingue establishments still had no idea when they would welcome the first flying team workers, or even how many. “We received 1,200 resumes,” the minister defended himself, stating that the Ministry’s teams are currently reviewing the applications received.
“I’m not telling you that there are 1,200 people who qualify,” he qualified.
“When we have a cohort of 40 or 50 people going to the North Shore, we must ensure that there is a cohort who can relay them 10 or 15 days later,” argued the minister.
Despite the renewal of collective agreements, Quebec must still conclude a separate agreement with the unions for “the specific terms of application” of the flying team.
“In short, the salary conditions and benefits are already determined by the new collective agreement negotiated and signed with the Common Front,” specified the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) in an email to La Presse. Christian Dubé has already stated that the workers of the flying team will receive a bonus of $100 per day, in addition to the bonuses offered in the affected regions.
The Legault government has repeatedly declared that the creation of the flying team was made possible by virtue of the new mobility levers, negotiated in the latest collective agreements signed with the FTQ and the CSN. The FIQ is not part of the offensive since the nurses’ union still does not have an employment contract.
However, there are still wires to attach, according to the FSSS-CSN. “There are other terms that we must agree on which simply do not exist,” expressed President Réjean Leclerc.
He claims that the MSSS presented a first “incomplete” proposal only on Tuesday even though the union “has been in demand” since mid-May.
Mr. Leclerc notes that the arrival of workers from outside with better conditions could have a demobilizing effect on existing staff.
“They should not be tempted to leave the region to return via the flying team, nothing should be taken for granted, and the government is not there at all. We try to include [modalities] so that we do not undress Pierre to dress Paul,” argues Mr. Leclerc.
The MSSS assures that the negotiation of a separate agreement “does not in any way push back the target range for the deployment of the flying team in the field” since the conditions will be applied retroactively, once the agreement has been concluded and signed.
