Faced with the repercussions of a staff shortage, nurses staged a sit-in on Thursday morning in the operating theatre of Fleurimont Hospital in the Eastern Townships.
After talks lasting at least three hours with the demonstrators failed to reach an agreement, management appealed to the Administrative Labour Tribunal.
"We could no longer tolerate this illegal work stoppage," said Yann Belzile, Director of Human Resources, Communications and Legal Affairs at CIUSSS de l'Estrie, at a mid-afternoon press conference.
The dispute centres on the "gift of on-call time," i.e. the possibility of transferring one's on-call time outside normal working hours to a colleague.
Belzile said that in the morning, management wanted to put an end to this practice because there are "a minority of employees who do a lot of these shifts," and it causes them exhaustion and distress.
Other employees, therefore, spoke out against the management's decision.
As far as patients are concerned, the hospital is reassuring, saying that all urgent surgery has been maintained, even if it is the operating theatre that is affected by this pressure tactic.
As for non-urgent operations, some have had to be postponed because of the situation.
Where necessary, those affected have been contacted by telephone. The Syndicat des professionnelles en soins de la FIQ and hospital management are now awaiting the labour tribunal decision.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 10, 2023.
