Quebec nurses to strike again later this month

Quebec health workers announced two more strike days, Nov. 23 and 24.

This comes as they begin their first of two strike days on Wednesday, their first in almost 25 years.

The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ) represents 80,000 nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists in Quebec.

FIQ president, Julie Bouchard, announced these next two days of strike, while visiting members on the picket line at a Quebec City health care facility.

She said that the FIQ negotiating committee was going to be back at the bargaining table to try to move this forward, which has been going on for several months.

The group’s collective agreements expired on March 31.

“It’s vital that we make progress at the table. We’re not going on strike out of the goodness of our hearts; it’s because our limits have been reached for too long. It’s a way of making ourselves heard by a contemptuous government that doesn’t understand our reality,” explains Bouchard, in a press release.

In addition to salaries, the FIQ is demanding a law on safe nurse-to-patient ratios, as well as more job stability.

The union says that the government wants to be able to move nurses from care units and shifts, as needed.

“We’ve reached a breaking point in the healthcare network, and the government wants to further degrade working conditions. Our message to them today is that if they continue to ignore the health of the public network, they will find us all in their path. Our working conditions are the health care conditions of all Quebecers.”

Amid the strikes, essential services will be maintained, but some care may be slowed down on certain units.

—This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French and translated by CityNews