Quebec's federation of nurses and health professionals (FIQ) is coming out in support of the Charter of Values.
The union surveyed a select group of its members and said 60 percent agreed with the proposed legislation, with 64 percent thinking it was necessary.
About 60 percent said they did not think the Charter would have any effect on the workplace if it was adopted by the government.
Just over half of FIQ members surveyed said they, at some point in their career, had been asked by a patient to make a religious accommodation. Of those requests 25 percent were resolved on the spot, while the rest were referred either to a supervisor or to management of the institution.
With the survey results in hand the FIQ's board of delegates passed a motion in support of the Charter of Values, saying even though the organization was not unanimous, its members clearly supported banning religious symbols in the workplace.
The FIQ did not disclose how many of its 62,000 members were surveyed, nor when the survey took place.
Sociology professor and polling analyst Claire Durand said that unless FIQ was willing to reveal the methodology of the survey and its response rate, its claim for support from members was "absolutely worthless."
