patrick mathieu
Contract talks continue almost nine months after the end of our collective agreement. These negotiations were always going to be challenging, and COVID-19 made them even more complex. Between Zoom conferences and meetings at the Treasury Board, we caught two members of the APTS executive committee and asked them to tell us what’s happening. Emmanuel Breton is in charge of contract talks and Véronic Lapalme is in charge of mobilization.
The pandemic has cruelly highlighted the cracks in Québec’s seniors’ housing model, which relies heavily on private facilities. Two researchers recently looked into who owns seniors’ residences and where their profits come from.
Unless we succeed in quickly stopping the pandemic through our collective efforts, the government will have to consider the possibility of withdrawing certain activities so that personnel can be reassigned to key locations. This is the reality of the situation even if two ministers, Christian Dubé and Lionel Carmant, have said they want to maintain all of the services usually provided to Quebecers.
If you’ve never worked in a medical lab, it’s hard to imagine the alarming circumstances into which graduate medical lab technicians and medical technologists were plunged during the first wave of COVID-19. And the situation only got more dramatic with the second wave.
Leading Indigenous rights advocate Michèle Audette travelled to Joliette with her step-daughter to support Joyce Echaquan’s family, who were in a state of shock the day after the Atikamekw mother of seven died in hospital. We asked Michèle what message she wanted to give to health and social services workers who are deeply concerned and shaken by the systemic racism exposed by Joyce shortly before her death.
You’re indispensable. But that doesn’t mean you’re immune to stress, anxiety or depression. The incidence of these conditions is on the rise, especially now that the pandemic has been gaining strength. Protecting your mental health is crucial—and it’s a shared responsibility between you, your employer and your union.
While the APTS ad describing the variety and value of the professions it represents was being aired, we contacted some of the members featured in the ad to talk about why they agreed to be part of the project and how the pandemic has affected their professional life.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the APTS has noticed that physical and mental health problems are on the rise among our members. Unfortunately, people often forget that if their injury or illness is directly attributable to their work, they should submit a claim to the CNESST (Labour standards, pay equity and occupational health and safety commission).
The special commission on children’s rights and youth protection that began its work on October 22 in Montréal is taking a break over the holidays. It will resume its work on January 8 and continue until May 28. The chair of the Commission, Régine Laurent, called for conditions to be set in place so that youth workers can testify at the hearings without fear of reprisal.