FIQ nurses demonstrate atop Decarie Expressway as negotiations stagnate

A demonstration by the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), in Montreal, September 2023. (LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Christinne Muschi)

Nurses and other health care professionals with the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) are protesting Wednesday morning atop the Decarie Expressway.

According to the FIQ's X page, demonstrators are standing on the expressway's Namur, Monkland, Snowdon, Upper Lachine and Côte-Sainte-Catherine overpasses.

"The CAQ government is turning a deaf ear and ignoring the intolerable working conditions our care professionals face every day," the federation writes. "Its inaction is having a devastating impact on the quality of care and the health of those who provide it."

More than 500 days have passed since the health care workers' collective agreement expired.

Negotiations, FIQ President Julie Bouchard said earlier this month, are at an impasse.

This is something Quebec's Treasury Board has denied.

"The status quo is not an option to provide the kind of health care the public is entitled to," it noted at the time.

Nevertheless, the FIQ warned that it would be increasing its pressure tactics if no movement was made.

One of the issues is the displacement of nurses from one unit or one establishment to another as needed.

Nurses have denounced this, saying that it does not recognize their expertise but instead makes them look like interchangeable pawns.

The FIQ has already imposed several strike mandates, with walkouts in November and December of 2023.

The Treasury Board points out that it had already reached agreements with the other unions.

-- with files from The Canadian Press.