Pay equity agreement for thousands of Quebec health-care office workers

FILE: A person types on a laptop on a train in New Jersey, May 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jenny Kane

A long-awaited agreement has finally been reached between Quebec’s Treasury Board and three major unions concerning pay equity for thousands of clerical and administrative employees in health and social services establishments.

The unions estimate the total number of employees affected to be around 30,000. These workers, 90 per cent of whom are women, stand to gain thousands of dollars as a result of an agreement recently reached to settle a series of pay equity complaints.

The agreement concerns office workers in the health and social services network: administrative officers, medical secretaries and management assistants, for example.

The three unions that have just reached an agreement with the Treasury Board are the CSN-affiliated Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Syndicat québécois des employés de service (SQEES), the latter two being affiliated with the FTQ.

The unions concerned are currently studying the details of the agreement.

The principle of pay equity is to recognize the value of work typically performed by women. Job titles are evaluated by weighing several factors. Where necessary, salary adjustments are then made.

Pay equity is then reviewed every five years, as job requirements may change.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 4, 2024.