No5 – April 2024
Progress report
Following the bargaining session in mid-March, our MSSS counterparts were supposed to do their homework and get back to us with a series of responses to subjects addressed at the negotiating table, and they did so at the April 22 session. The problem, though, is that they did so by resorting yet again to their habitual doublespeak: on the one hand, they continued to stress that our sole status was that of learners, to justify their repeated refusal to provide salary comparisons with other health professionals while, on the other hand, they continued to assert that we should limit the leaves we take in order to maintain the significant care and services we deliver to the public. What's wrong with that picture!?
None the less, the most recent session was an opportunity for the MSSS to provide their first progress report on the non-monetary demands that have been discussed for more than 18 months now—a progress report which we ourselves had done after each bargaining session. This had the merit of clearly highlighting the fact that, aside from clear disagreements on the MSSS’s demands concerning restrictions on taking leave, there are no longer really any demands standing in the way of negotiating the monetary and salary aspects. Unless, of course, the MSSS intends formally to block negotiations on normative issues, in which case we will be assessing our options in terms of both legal action and mobilization.
In the meantime, take note that the provisions of the current collective agreement continue to apply during the negotiations. Everything currently under discussion at the negotiating table comprises theoretical elements that cannot in any way become new work conditions applied to members. Nevertheless, that is what some training sites appear to believe, as they have apparently been eager recently to issue new rules quite coincidentally identical to the MSSS’s demands concerning restrictions on our leave. Let us be absolutely clear: we are clearly opposed to these demands from the MSSS, which are not legally binding. Our attorneys have already been instructed to take action systematically against any establishment in the healthcare system trying to interfere in our collective bargaining. We already have a date with one establishment before Quebec’s labour tribunal (Tribunal administratif du travail, or TAT), to highlight the requirement not to interfere in our union activities, of which collective bargaining is probably the most important. We will update you as soon as the TAT has held its hearing on this matter.
Beyond what we hope is merely a misstep by an establishment and not a concerted strategy to interfere, negotiations are continuing until further notice, with exchanges of views scheduled for May and June. We trust we will finally have responses to our demands with a financial impact—demands we tabled too long ago—which the MSSS’s representatives have thus far refused to debate. Let us hope this changes quickly, since the slow pace at which the negotiations are inching forward and the paucity of negotiating times offered by the MSSS will be increasingly difficult for them to justify without ending up in breach of their legal obligation to negotiate in good faith.
Your Negotiating Committee | 
