(Montreal) The lack of consultation surrounding Santé Québec and the new law on health efficiency, which will bring about many changes in the health network, frustrates the unions. Quebec will, among other things, merge the union seniority of employees across the province, force medical specialists to practice in the regions and put an end to regional boards of directors.
“These are things that were not discussed at the bargaining table. This government negotiates in the public square, ”exclaims Réjean Leclerc, president of the FSSS-CSN. “I find it peculiar to enshrine this directly in a law before even discussing it with the people concerned. »
The government will put an end to the regional boards of directors and will appoint general managers in all the large establishments, who will report directly to Santé Québec. “The government is inconsistent. He says with the edge of his mouth that he wants to decentralize, then his actions say the opposite. They want to centralize things even more,” Leclerc says.
Eventually, the employees of the network will have a single employer, Santé Québec, rather than the 34 local employers, which will make it possible to merge the collective agreements. “It takes flexibility away from local managers and it further centralizes management that was already very centralized,” laments Mr. Leclerc.
For the president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions-CSN, Caroline Senneville, many questions remain unanswered. “We met the minister last Friday who gave us the outline of the bill, but it was only the outline, because the National Assembly must be aware first of the content of the law,” says- She.
In addition, Ms. Senneville wonders about the “added value” of these new measures. “Is national seniority, for example, going to make it so that there are regions where it’s going to be even more difficult to retain employees? she asks herself.
She also fears that these new changes will be seen as “another burden” on workers. “All is not well in the healthcare system and you have to make sure that the changes are made at the right speed,” she says.
Several unions, including the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) and the Association of specialists in internal medicine of Quebec (ASMIQ), have said they want to wait to see the project and analyze it before commenting.