Angry over bonus for nurses, Quebec health-care union suspends contract vote and talks strike

MONTREAL -

The offer of bonuses to Quebec nurses has just halted what could have become a ratified agreement for 60,000 union members working in Quebec’s health and social services sector.

The Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) has decided to stop a consultation with its members. They were in the process of voting on Quebec's latest offer to renew their collective agreement.

“Everything has changed” with these bonuses for nurses only, said Robert Comeau, interim president of the APTS, in an interview on Friday.

The APTS represents 60,000 medical imaging and laboratory technologists, as well as workers in youth centres.

Comeau said the APTS was told in June that there was no money left for the public sector, even for the health network. That's why it had resigned itself to consulting its 60,000 members to take the latest offer.

The bonuses offered Thursday by the Legault government to bring nurses back into the public network angered APTS members, who do related work, Comeau said. He warns they are now ready to strike again.
 

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 24, 2021.