On Monday, the Administrative Labour Tribunal began hearing the FIQ’s motion against Santé Québec and other healthcare institutions regarding certain bonuses and adjustments that have still not been paid to nurses, even though the collective agreement was signed in December 2024.
Some bonuses were to be paid 45 days after the collective agreement was signed, others 120 days after, i.e., before April 5. There were new bonuses and bonuses that were modified, such as those for evening and night shifts.
However, according to the first witness from the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ), Jérôme Rousseau, “there are still bonuses that have not been paid” to date.
When the FIQ asked for explanations from Quebec over the months, “programming difficulties” in the payroll systems were cited, he reported.
The FIQ therefore filed a complaint against Santé Québec and the employers for obstructing union activities, in which it requested not only the “immediate” payment of bonuses and adjustments, but also interest, as well as moral and punitive damages.
Rousseau reported that this is not the first time this has happened, noting that the FIQ had experienced similar difficulties with the 2021-2023 collective agreement. At the time, nurses were owed several thousand dollars, he said.
And, according to him, when there are such delays in the payment of amounts owed, members’ anger turns toward the union, which is criticized for not knowing how to negotiate and for not sufficiently monitoring these deadlines—which affects its credibility with its members, Rousseau said.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
