MONTREAL

Overdue payments to Quebec health-care workers begin

Published Monday, March 21, 2022 12:39PM EDT Last Updated Monday, March 21, 2022 3:14PM EDT

Health-care workers walk across a sky bridge at a hospital in Montreal, Sunday, February 6, 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada. Hospitalizations have been on a slow decline in the province allowing the government to ease certain restrictions to help curb the spread of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

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Payments due to thousands of Quebec health-care workers for months have finally begun to flow.

The Canadian Press reported in October that thousands of health-care workers were owed delayed payments for wage increases, bonuses and even pay equity payments.

Then, in early November, nurses were added to the list of those owed money.

Quebec explained the delays in payment by the many changes that had to be made to payrolls, as well as the number of employees affected, which meant that the private companies that process payrolls had not been able to make the changes in time.

Health-care workers were angry, especially since Quebec was asking even more of them in a time of pandemic.

“There is still a lot of mistrust. There are some who have advances [but] they don’t know how much they’re going to get. Our world hasn’t come back from all the time it took,” said Sylvie Nelson, president of the QFL-affiliated Syndicat québécois des employés de service (SQEES).

The situation is now being resolved, although not everything is clear-cut and payments are sometimes made from advances given to workers.

The FTQ-affiliated Syndicat québécois des employés de service (SQEES), which represents orderlies, reported Monday that most of the bonuses and salary increases due have begun to be paid in most institutions. However, this is not the case for pay equity payments.

These pay equity payments also affect administrative assistants, for example.

“Premier Legault told us, ‘I’m going to put money back in the wallet of Quebecers’ [during Tuesday’s budget]. I can’t wait to see that, no problem with that. But maybe he should start thinking about settling the debt he owes to thousands of Quebec women,” said Nelson. “They have been waiting for more than 11 years for the money they are owed.”

The FIQ (Fédération interprofessionnelle en santé) described the situation as very flexible: retroactive payments and salary increases have begun to be paid, but several premiums related to the collective agreement and ministerial decrees are still not paid.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 21, 2022.