Lia Levesque
The Canadian Press
–
Her opponent for the post of president, Denyse Joseph, who was vice-president of the federation, was therefore beaten. The FIQ did not want to reveal the percentage of support for each one.
“It was an important vote of confidence that was given to me. I take it with great humility, ”said M.me Bédard in interview with The Canadian Press, after the proclamation of his re-election.
The Interprofessional Health Federation represents the vast majority of nurses in Quebec. It has 76,000 members: nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists and other healthcare professionals.
Priorities: collective agreement and ratios
Mme Bédard has two priorities: complete negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement and continue the fight to obtain better nurse-patient ratios.
The FIQ has already reached an agreement in principle with Quebec on the working conditions of its members, but it does not include salaries and regional disparities – issues that are normally negotiated at the central table by the inter-union common front or a central trade union.
On May 25, seeing that it still had not concluded an agreement on salaries, after more than a year, the FIQ announced that it was going to seek strike mandates from its members.
However, on May 29, the FTQ, a central labor union, reached a comprehensive agreement with Quebec, which includes salary increases. This agreement in principle provides for a 2% increase over three years.
“Look for a salary increase”
Despite everything, Mme Bédard refuses to resign himself and take it for granted that its members will receive these 2% salary increases for three years.
She argues that there are “other ways to seek salary enhancement”, including intervening at the level of salary scales or in the storage of jobs (which are used for pay equity).
To support her thesis, she recalls that Prime Minister François Legault had set out three priority employment groups: teachers, orderlies and nurses.
And Mme Bedard believes that the merchandise has not yet been delivered with “differentiated offers” for nurses, unlike the other two job titles.
Now that the FIQ convention has ended, “we are going back to the table tomorrow” to negotiate, warns the union leader. And she expects “an intensification of negotiations in the coming days”.
It is following these negotiations that the FIQ will see what will happen to the consultation of its members on a strike mandate.
–
