Dear ,
As you know, we have been negotiating with the Quebec government for the renewal of our collective agreement for more than two years now.
We have worked tirelessly since the spring to move forward the renewal of our agreement, despite the apparent lack of reciprocity from our counterparts at the negotiating table. Numerous work meetings and bargaining sessions have been held since September in an attempt to bring the parties closer to a settlement—unsuccessfully to date.
Since the government representatives were not negotiating seriously and were showing no respect for our work, and in view of the ongoing disconnect between their rhetoric and the lack of corresponding offers in support of that rhetoric, in mid-November we presented essential services proposals to the four university networks’ main employers, in order to initiate the strike process. The employers completely ignored our proposals.
On November 29, we applied to the courts to force the employers to follow up on the process. At the subsequent bargaining session, the management negotiating committee changed its tune once again, and surprisingly proposed to meet with us three times within the space of one week, with the stated goal of achieving a settlement before the Holidays. We were surprised, pleased to hear the proposal, but at the same time somewhat skeptical. Indeed, this was not the first time there had been a sudden change of tune at the bargaining table, and on the previous occasions this had not necessarily led to any progress in the negotiations.
On December 11, the government representatives tabled a new comprehensive offer, as agreed. Unfortunately, the content of this proposal bore no relation to any serious attempt to bring the parties together—quite the contrary. This offer essentially confirmed the government’s stubborn intent to offer us not only less than public sector employees were offered, but, worse still, to propose to increase our contribution to tuition fees—all the while maintaining demands to limit how we take all our time off, in direct contradiction to our important demands aimed at alleviating your workload. At that point, we could have decided to suspend negotiations and concentrate on pressure tactics. But, since the objective is still to reach an agreement, we opted for another strategy instead.
Our actions in the past month
On December 12, it was our turn to present at the bargaining table a comprehensive proposal setting out the parameters which in our view could lead to an agreement between the parties. We also activated the legal process to obtain the right to strike. In addition, we made public appearances designed to make it very clear to the MSSS and the provincial Treasury Board that their representatives at the bargaining table were not acting in good faith or in a manner conducive to reaching an agreement. See the list of our media appearances and interventions.
On December 19, the management negotiating committee seemed to react positively, asking questions about our comprehensive proposal and potential areas of agreement, without committing to making any new offers. So dates for bargaining sessions were agreed upon for January 2025, and in the meantime, we will continue the process of obtaining the right to strike. That will lead us early in the year to general assemblies where you will be invited to express yourselves formally on that question. These steps toward a strike will continue until we receive worthwhile proposals from the government.
In the meantime, we invite you to voice your discontent. There are many signs that managers in our training sites are currently verifying whether you, our members, are really as unhappy as those of us at the bargaining table are, in order to find out whether we genuinely have the will to apply pressure to obtain positive changes in our conditions. So it’s essential that we get the message across!
Essential services in the event of a strike
Quebec’s labour tribunal (Tribunal administratif du travail, or TAT) has ordered the employers to respond to our essential services scenarios in the event of a strike no later than December 23. There will be discussions with tribunal representatives in the first week of January, so the TAT can then determine the level of essential services to be maintained in the event of a strike. We will of course continue to update you as soon as there are any developments on that front. So stay tuned!
Bill 83
Beyond the negotiations, which of course are taking up a great deal of our time and resources, you should know that the Federation’s directors and employees continue to handle all the other matters, both on the academic/pedagogical and labour union fronts, and with respect to physician resource issues. In particular, we heard you loud and clear on Bill 83, which proposed the discriminatory imposition of practice conditions specific to young doctors starting out in practice, including—beyond the question of promoting the public healthcare system, a goal we obviously share—possible financial penalties for those not finding positions in Quebec who would be forced to go and practise elsewhere.
We nevertheless managed to convince Christian Dubé during the hearings on the legislation setting up Santé Québec (Health Quebec)—Bill 15—not to introduce practice conditions aimed only at young physicians (unlawful “orphan clauses”); Minister Dubé vehemently denied having had any such thought. Barely 18 months later, there he is explicitly proposing just that in a Bill following a surprising suggestion from Dr Mauril Gaudreault, President of the Collège des médecins. The Collège apparently wants to pursue its mission of protecting the public, while disregarding the integrity of the profession and putting forward measures that discriminate against young doctors. We do not feel such a measure represents the values that should guide the actions of a professional order. Rest assured that when the time comes we will tell you more about our lobbying on this matter during the public consultations on this Bill.
In the meantime, I hope you have the opportunity to rest a little over the holidays. We’re all passionate about what we do, and that’s very positive, but sometimes we can also be our own worst enemies in not looking after ourselves properly. It should be part of our healthy lifestyle habits that we sometimes take a breather, so as to be better able to take care of our patients.
So I hope you have the chance to enjoy some such moments of respite, ideally in the company of family and friends over the coming weeks.
In closing, on behalf of the Federation, I wish you a wonderful time over the Holidays, and a happy, successful 2025—marked, let’s hope, by renewal, enabling us to keep on experiencing our passion for medicine, but in conditions that are more humane for both us and our patients.
You may also check out this content by watching the video:
Mid-year update for 2024-2025 and Holiday greetings
Dr Ghassen Soufi
President, FMRQ | 
