By Becky Ellis
QUÉBEC — Over the past six months, nurses throughout Canada have been at the forefront of labour struggle as they protest against being overworked and underpaid, and against governments' austerity drives in health care services.
In April, nurses in the province of Saskatchewan went on an illegal 10-day strike against poor pay and working conditions caused by the provincial government's health care budget cuts. Similar strikes and walk-outs have occurred in British Columbia, Newfoundland and, most recently, Québec.
On June 27, 47,000 nurses, members of the Québec Nurses Federation, conducted an illegal strike following two days of walk-outs. The nurses were demanding a 15% wage increase over the next three years, as opposed to the 5% offered by Québec premiere Lucien Bouchard. Québec nurses are the lowest paid in Canada, receiving between $30,000 and $40,000 a year.
The nurses were also protesting against the Bouchard government's massive cuts to health care, which have resulted in hospital closures, job losses and declines in real pay. The cuts have also undermined nurses' job security and working conditions.
The strike lasted for three weeks. Although Bouchard conducted an aggressive media campaign portraying the nurses as "irresponsible" and "greedy", 71% of Québec residents supported the nurses.
The Québec parliament legislated to force the nurses back to work on July 4. However, 93% of nurses voted to remain on strike. The nurses' determination continued even after the provincial government announced that the strikers' pay would be docked at a rate of two days for every day on strike.
From the beginning of the strike, nurses were joined on the picket lines by doctors, who formed the Coalition de Solidarite des Medecins Pour la Sante, and pharmacists. Both groups have protested against the health care cuts. A province-wide mass resignation of 1000 pharmacists is planned for August 30 and 19 emergency room doctors at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal will resign on September 1.
On July 21, the strikers turned out in record numbers to reject, by a vote of 75%, a back-to-work deal recommended by the union leaders. Despite this, the union leadership, pressed by president Jennie Skene, sealed the deal with the government. The deal accepts the government's pay offer, merely establishing a committee to study wage parity and report back to the nurses in the autumn.
Rank-and-file union members have expressed anger at the union leaders' sell-out and some locals [branches] are refusing to pay union dues in an attempt to force the union leadership to resign.
Many nurses are now focussing their attention on the confrontation expected between Bouchard and 400,000 public sector workers in Québec, who are building towards a strike.