Labour tribunal rejects Quebec nurses' pressure tactic of skipping overtime hours

Quebec's largest nurses' union cannot go forward with its plan to foregoworking overtime hours later this week, the province's labour tribunal has ruled.

The Fdration interprofesionelle de la sant du Qubec, also known as the FIQ, had planned to stop working overtime hours as of Thursday, as a pressure tactic foritslabour dispute with the Legault government.

The FIQ, whichrepresents about 80,000 health-care workers and is made up largely of nurses, practical nurses,respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, has been without a collective agreement since March 2023. It was one of several major unions that went on strike last fall, forcing school closures and health services to be scaled back, and remains the only one that is still without a new contract.

In its ruling Monday, the Tribunal administratif du travailsaid the plan to stop working overtime hours is a "concerted action" that is "susceptible to causing a prejudice to a service the population is entitled to."

According to the ruling, the FIQ disputed that claim, stating that their pressure tactic would only affect administrative duties and only prejudice their employer, not the patients. The union said the pressure tactic would not involve overtime hours that are mandatory in the health-care sector, commonly referred to in French by the acronym TSO.

The tribunal was unconvinced.

It pointed outthe fact that the nurses' union's call to action regarding overtime hours failed to specify if it applied to TSO, or other work hours. It said such ambiguity could cause confusion.

As part of the ruling, the tribunal also ordered the FIQ to go back on the statement it made on Aug. 30, when it launched its initial call to members to refuse working overtime hours.

In a news release Monday evening, the FIQ says itcalls on its 80,000 members to cease any concerted action aimed at refusing overtime. Consequently, members must continue to provide their usual work services, while respecting their professional obligations, it says.

In April of this year, the Quebec government and the union had an agreement in principle, butmembers rejected it.

Issues around staff retention and mobility are among the major sticking points in negotiations.

Negotiations are stuck around the government's demand that nurses, on a voluntary basis, be free to move from one health-care facility to another to address needs in the system where they arise.

But the FIQdisagrees with the proposal, saying itdisregards nurses' expertise and treats them like interchangeable pawns.