Hema-Quebec nurses planning strikes in Quebec City, Montreal

A new study suggests freshly donated blood is not better than older blood when it is transfused into severely ill patients. A bag of blood is shown at a clinic in Montreal, Thursday, November 29, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Héma-Québec nurses will be on strike in Quebec City on Friday, and in Montreal on Monday.

Héma-Québec's management has indicated that the two strikes will result in the cancellation of a limited number of appointments in some centres and mobile clinics.

Essential services, however, will still be provided as the parties reached an agreement to this effect earlier this month. The administrative labor tribunal ruled that the proposed essential services "are sufficient to ensure that public health or safety will not be endangered by the strike."

On Friday, a union of the CSN-affiliated Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux is holding its one-day walkout from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., after holding a half-day in February.

This union of nurses and nursing assistants has 75 members.

On Monday, it will be the turn of the Syndicat du personnel infirmier, part of the CSQ (Centrale des syndicats du Québec), to hold a walkout from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. in Montreal. It has 132 members.

The main issue in dispute is parity of pay with nurses in the public sector.

The collective agreements of the two unions, which have formed an alliance for the current negotiations, expired on March 31, 2019.

However, talks between the parties have not broken down. Conciliation meetings are scheduled with the CSN union on March 13, 15 and 16, and with the CSQ union on March 17, 22 and 30.

Héma-Québec is responsible for the collection, transportation and distribution of blood and blood products.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 10, 2023.