Quebec nurses refuse mandatory overtime this weekend as pandemic adds to pressure

Quebec's largest nurses'unionsays health-care workers are beyond exhausted as they continue to feel the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemicand that the use of mandatory overtime to cover staffing shortages mustend.

The Fdration interprofessionnelle de la sant du Qubec(FIQ) says that's why more than30,000 of its members in a dozen regions, including Montreal,are refusing to work extra hours this weekend.

On Friday, the unionsent formal notices to local and provincial health authoritiesinforming them of this weekend's plans. It alsoissueda deadline of Nov.15 to ban the practice of forced overtime entirely orface action from the FIQ.

"We never know what time we are going to leave work," said Patrick Guay, vice-presidentof the FIQ's department of labour relations.

"It has an impact on our families, it has an impact on the overall [health] network.... There's no more patience. It's over."

WATCH| Quebec nurses refuse to work overtime this weekend:

Quebec nurses refusing to work mandatory overtime this weekend, union says

3 years ago

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Quebec's largest nurses' union is increasing its fight against mandatory overtime, as more than 30,000 of its members across the province are refusing to work extra hours this weekend.

The nurses' union says it's reached out to Quebec's workplace safety boardand asked it to intervene. It also asked the province's human rights commission to study the issue.

The FIQ says the "inhumanity of such a system" puts the health and safety of both nurses and patients at risk and is also causing psychological damage to employees.

"We need to end this management style," Guay said. "There are other ways to provide service than forcing people to work."

'There's no magic wand,' health minister says

Health Minister Christian Dubagrees that mandatory overtime isn't sustainable, but he says getting rid of it isn't something that can happen overnight.

"It's addressed in the collective agreement," Dubsaid onFriday, referring to an agreement in principle between Quebec and the FIQ that was signed on Oct.6.

"We don't want any more mandatory overtime ... but there's no magic wand," he said.

"We're not going to be able to go from five, six, sevenper cent usage of mandatory overtime in certain regionsto zero tomorrow morning. It's not possible."

Dub saidthe province's plan to address the personnel crisis isa work in progress, and mandatory overtime was a management tacticusedwell before the pandemic.

He said that next week,he hopes to presentconcrete measures to improve working conditions in the health-care systemmeasures he hopes will convince more nurses to come out of retirement, encouragepart-time employees to agree to full-time work and attract new hires.

Dubsaidnurses want to see a culture change on the job and thathe's committed to making that happen.

Quebec's Health Ministry says almost 1,800 nurses have been hired, have come back to work or have moved to full-time positions in the last few weeks. The ministry says it'sin discussions with close to 2,400 other potentialcandidates.

But the nurses' unionsays the government's recruitment efforts haven't yielded any results when it comes to eliminatingmandatory overtime. It says it will be rolling out the next steps ofits plan to see thepractice banned in the coming days.