The private sectorâs role in health care was on everyone’s lips during the election campaign, but given the widely diverging opinions, there was no clear understanding of how that might be interpreted. François Legault said he wanted to accelerate the âmigrationâ of primary care services to family medicine groups (GMFs) and give private clinics more latitude in specialized care. Dominique Anglade wanted a major push to clear the surgery backlog, through agreements with the private sector. Eric Duhaime bluntly questioned the basic principle of keeping public and private health care separate. And Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois tersely commented that if private health care worked, weâd know about it.
Professionals and union action are commonly held to be incompatible. This deeply entrenched piece of conventional wisdom was challenged by Louise Boivin, professor at the Industrial Relations Department of the UQO (Université du Québec en Outaouais), at Comprendre pour choisir, the second edition of the APTS Carrefour des idées.
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 whatâs happening. Emmanuel Breton is in charge of contract talks and VĂ©ronic Lapalme is in charge of mobilization.
Since the beginning of 2020, the Legault government has made no concessions at the bargaining table. It is sticking to positions that would erode the working conditions of APTS members and potentially hasten the exodus of personnel to the private sector, further weakening the public system. What is behind this (unwise) government strategy?
Youâre indispensable. But that doesnât mean youâre 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 crucialâand itâs 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).
âTake care of yourselfâ â weâve heard that a lot over the past months. Easy enough to say, but not so easy to do. In this particularly stressful period for people working in health care and social services, we asked Manon Truchon, professor of psychology at Laval University, to talk to us about the field she specializes in: stress in the workplace.
The special commission on childrenâs rights and youth protection that began its work on October 22 in MontrĂ©al 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, RĂ©gine Laurent, called for conditions to be set in place so that youth workers can testify at the hearings without fear of reprisal.
The woman we elected president of the APTS at our Convention last November is very determined to boost our unionâs visibility and influence, and is proud to do so. âI want the APTS to have the means to realize our goals, fully engage in public debates and take the initiative without hesitation. We have to create ties with other organizations and join forces to serve our common causes,â AndrĂ©e Poirier declared.