FMRQ collective agreement renewal process:
New demands to roll back our rights,
but some potential for progress
The members of your Negotiating Committee met with their MSSS counterparts last week for the first time since December 2023, and we finally saw some positive movement, notably including clearer written positions from the government party. Nevertheless, while providing their clarifications, the MSSS representatives also took the opportunity to confirm their demands to roll back our collective rights, including administrative constraints that would limit the ability to take the leave set out in the collective agreement and would make the leave process application more complex, notably with respect to annual vacation. Obviously, we pointed out once again that the mandate given to us by our members is to promote their wellness while decreasing workload intensity, including the possibility of imposing schedules on members providing for as many as 19 consecutive days of work. Consequently, the proposal to add constraints to taking the few days’ leave that members manage to take in a year runs directly counter to our negotiating priorities, and is therefore not acceptable to us.
We completed our presentations on the complex question of work and call duty schedules. We gave examples of call schedules that could alleviate members’ workload without reducing their clinical exposure, while maintaining services for the public. We await a response from the MSSS on these proposals by mid-February.
While continuing to be patient, then, we reiterated to the employer that in our view we should have got to monetary and salary issues in February, and that with goodwill on both sides, we still believe it is absolutely possible to reach an agreement by the end of the current academic year. We will see shortly whether the MSSS shares that hope.
The Negotiating Committee will also be reporting to the Delegates’ Assembly in mid-March, when we will decide on any political action to be taken, in particular concerning mobilization and essential services scenarios in the event of pressure tactics up to and including strike action—all depending on how the upcoming bargaining sessions go. So keep an eye out for future issues of Info-Nego to stay up to date on developments.
Your Negotiating Committee | 
