February 2008 Volume 7, Number 3

classes; the teapot, well, has split over into a

slushy, unnecessary mess. The JACFA Executive

has a CRT meeting on February 6 and unless

the matter is resolved to the benefit of our

members, grievances will be filed.

On a more positive note, after consultation

with JACFA, the administration has revised its

procedure and form for planned absences,

which is available through your department

chair. This form will cover planned absences

for professional development, absences

covered under the collective agreement (e.g.

your wedding, moving day, jury duty, etc.), and

travel during the March study week. If you plan

to be away during the semester, you do need to

report your absence. Read on for more details.

We have included an insurance report

detailing areas where JACFA will be proposing

changes to coverage for the January 2009

renewal, including improvements in

paramedical, MRI and digital mammogram

John Abbott College Faculty Association

From Faye’s Desk:

Snowstorm in a Teapot?

jacfanewsInside

this Issue_____________________

Faye’s Desk 1, 3

Snowstorm 2

Planned Absences 3

Insurance Report 4

Good Deeds 4

Private Health Sector 5, 8

News from FNEEQ 6-7

Faculty Profile 9

AEESICQ 10

International 11

Important Dates 12

Well, the semester got off to a

tempestuous labour relations start with a CRT

meeting on January 14. At that meeting, the

administration tried to retroactively apply an

absence policy dated January 14, 2008 to the

class cancellations of December 3. It also

insisted that the snowstorm was minor, despite

school board and cegep closings, and as well

as warnings from Sûreté du Québec to stay off

the roads, if at all possible. The administration

was immutable to claims that we are a

commuter college with many faculty members

living at great distances and different physical

abilities in terms of dealing with a severe

storm. The risk to life and limb of our

colleagues, as well as our students, appears to

be of little concern to our administration. The

problems caused by severe weather conditions

could be easily dealt with by building snow days

into the academic calendar. However, our

administration seems reluctant to ever cancel

(continued on page 3)

SnowboundJACFA Executive

December 3, 2007

2 February 2008 Snowstorm

The Administration’s Actions on the Snowstorm of December 3

On December 3, 2007, of the 239 teacherswho were scheduled to teach that Monday, seventy-four teachers cancelled classes. Thirty-three report-ed the reasons for their absences as snowstorm,weather, personal or other. Forty-one stated sick-ness or sickness/parental responsibility as thecauses of their absences. On a normal teachingday, perhaps four or five teachers cancel classes.Fifteen times that number did not teach on Decem-ber 3. On that day, virtually every school commis-sion in Quebec closed their schools. Twelve cegepscancelled classes including three not far from JohnAbbott: Saint-Laurent, Bois-de-Boulogne and Valley-field. The Sûreté du Québec advised the public tostay off the roads, if at all possible. Teachers whodid make it in found classes less than half full.Wouldn’t it have been reasonable to cancel allclasses at John Abbott that day given the poor turn-out and the extreme weather? The administrationdecided not to. What they resolved to do waspenalize teachers who had to cancel classesbecause an act of nature created by extraordinarycircumstances that prevented them from teaching.

How is it that some teachers made it in to thecollege and some didn’t? Our teachers live in awide area. The weather and road conditions can bedrastically different. The functioning of public trans-it differs greatly. Teachers have varying degrees ofphysical abilities to cope with the extreme climateof December 3. Some teachers were late for class-es. Many teachers who did not have scheduledclasses stayed home because of the storm.

Mike Turner of the Creative Arts Departmentmade two separate attempts to get to the campus.He had to turn back but not before he did consider-able damage to the front end of his car during thesecond attempt. To quote Mike, “This time I had toturn back at Mirabel. I think it was Mirabel but thesnow was so heavy, I’m really not sure where Iwas.” Does the administration require a teacher torisk life and limb to get to work if the conditions heor she encounters are treacherous? What is mostdisappointing about the administration’s actions istheir imputation that teachers took advantage of

the situation on December 3 to skip work. A college administrationthat is uncommitted to the health and security of its employeesshould not ask them to be committed to the welfare of the college.

Originally, the administration, in its voice mail message ofDecember 17, 2007 to the 33 teachers, threatened to cut a day’spay unless the teachers retroactively claimed they were “in fact sick”on December 3. At the one-hour Labour Relations Committee (CRT)meeting on January 14, 2008, the Administration modified its posi-tion. (The Administration refused our request for a longer meetingtime to discuss the issue.) The modified administration position isthat teachers will lose a day’s pay unless they confirm to their respect-ive Dean that they attempted to report to work, but circumstancesbeyond their control made arriving at the College impossible. If theProgram Dean accepts their claim, the teachers will be paid but oneday will be deducted from their bank of sick days.

As we stated in the Labour Relations Committee (CRT) meetingon January 14, we are opposed to the administration penalizingteachers by a pay cut or the deduction of a day from their bank of sickdays. Our opposition is based on: • the provisions in the collective agreement in article 5-9.00;• the Administration is applying retroactively its “policy and

procedures” of January 14, to the snowstorm absences ofDecember 3;

• we have never been informed of or consulted on theadministration’s procedure of penalizing teachers by thededuction of pay or sick days for absences caused bycircumstances beyond their control;

• the College has a long established snowstorm policy and CRTagreement (since 1978) that the College will not penalizeteachers unless the teacher’s decision to be absent constitutesan abuse of delegated responsibility, and then only after properconsultation with the Labour Relations Committee (CRT);

• an enlightened employer, a self-described “employer of choice,”would not penalize its employees in this way. We thank the teachers who took the time to inform the admin -

istration of their dismay over their handling of this issue. There is stilltime if you wish to add your voice to theirs. Please send a copy toJACFA of any email or letter you send to the administration.

We do not understand what the College has to gain by this courseof action. But we do know what it has to lose. The JACFA Executiveand the faculty hope that the administration will reconsider thesituation and work with faculty to arrive at a just and positiveresolution of this issue. If the issue is not satisfactorily resolved,grievances will be filed and arbitration will be requested.

3

jacfanews February 2008

New Formfor Faculty Absences Planned in Advance

The academic administration has introduced a new form that has tobe filled out by faculty who plan to be absent from the college forprofessional development activities, for activities covered under thecollective agreement or for personal reasons. Department chairs weresent an electronic copy of this form in early December 2007.

In all cases, if the planned absence is during a teaching time, theteacher is required to advise the department chairperson of how coursematerial will be adequately covered in spite of the cancellation of classesduring the teacher’s absence. Alternatively, the teacher may be voluntarilyreplaced by a colleague who will not be paid suppléance. Please notethat no teacher is required to do unpaid replacement work. In situationswhere a teacher’s absence will cause a significant prejudice to thestudents’ education, authorization for a paid replacement may berequested.

Absences for Professional Development ActivitiesIn the case of an absence for a professional development activity

approved by the Faculty Professional Development Committee (FPDC),the teacher has to fill out the form to advise the program dean of his orher absence. For a professional development activity for which theteacher has not requested or received FPDC funding, the teacher mustrequest authorization from their program dean.

Absences for an Activity Covered by the CollectiveAgreement

The collective agreement in article 5-9.00 provides for absenceswithout loss of pay or benefits in certain cases of absences planned inadvance. These include the wedding of a close relative, the teacher’smarriage, moving day, jury duty, being called as a witness and anyabsence requested, in writing, for serious reasons. The teacher mustcomplete the form to advise the program dean of a planned absence orto request authorization for an absence for serious reasons.

Absences for Personal ReasonsTeachers must fill out the form to request authorization from their

Program Dean for absences not specifically covered by the collectiveagreement. This includes absences during both teaching and non-teaching periods. For example, if a teacher plans to travel during theMarch study week, he or she must fill out the form to seek authorization.

Please contact your department chairperson for a copy of the newform for faculty planned absences. If you have questions, contact theJACFA office at 5506 or by email at jacfa@johnabbott.qc.ca

From

Faye’s Desk(cont’d from page 1)

coverage. Please peruse these suggestions, and

let us know what you think. Alongside this report,

you will find a commentary from Claudette

Carbonneau, president of the CSN, about its

campaign to protect public health care. On the

external front, you will find updates on a strike

day grievance and the increase in our RREGOP

pension premiums. There will also be a meeting

of the three cegep teacher federations [FAC,

FNEEQ(CSN) and FEC(CSQ)] to discuss the

federal transfers issue and the lack of funding for

college education. Finally there are proposed

changes that will fundamentally affect two

programs at Abbott, Nursing and Youth and Adult

Correctional Intervention. The proposed changes

to the Nursing program and our teaching nurses’

concerns are deftly outlined in this issue by our

own Ute Beffert, who also serves as the

president of AEESICQ .

While the teapot may have split over, we will

try our best to keep the soup on the burners at

our second annual Valentine’s Day Lunch on

Thursday, February 14 from 11 to 1:30. Appa-

rent ly, Dan the Social Guy, keeping the spirit of

the day in mind, is promising hugs.

Insurance Report4 February 2008

As was reported at the last General Assembly, as of January 1, therehave been some minor changes to the health and long-term disabilitycoverage, as well as a 3% increase in health insurance premiums. Youshould have received an explanation of the changes from HumanResources (it is also posted on the JACFA website).

Towards the end of this semester, FNEEQ will meet to start discussingproposed changes in the policy for January 2009. We would like to receiveyour feedback on three possible changes that we would like to propose:

1. Increasing the limit on the 80% coverage from $1000 of claims to$2000 (it is 100% after this) and using the savings to the plan to increasethe “per visit” limits and annual maximums for other medical expenses(i.e. physiotherapy, osteopaths, homeopaths, etc.).

2. Covering 80% of the costs of MRIs performed in private clinics forthose who have to wait more than four months in the public system, up toa maximum of $1000 per year.

3. Covering 80% of the costs of digital mammograms prescribed by adoctor up to a maximum of $500 per year until these costs are covered bythe public health system.

The first measure is proposed to address the fact that the plan hasevolved over the years into more and more of a drug plan. The $1000maximum seems to date back to the 1980s. Drug costs, their use and oursalaries have increased substantially since that time, but the maximum anyfaculty member has to pay in the plan has remained $200 per year. At the

Insurance Report

same time, the costs of other medical treatments(i.e. physiotherapy) have also greatly increased,but their coverage has not. The measure seeks toredress the imbalance in the plan between drugand other medical coverage.

The second measure seeks to address theparticular problem of members who must endureunacceptably long delays in receiving MRItreatments. While we understand and support thedesire to fix the public system, we do not believethat this should be done by prolonging the pain ofthose caught in the long delays.

The third measure addresses the needs ofsome of our female members who are diagnosedwith or who have had breast cancer and whosedoctors ask for these tests to be carried out.

If you have any other suggestions, we wouldbe happy to consider them as well. At our nextgeneral assembly, we will be asking for debate andendorsement of these proposals before sendingthem on to the FNEEQ insurance committee.

Stephen BryceJACFA Insurance Representative

Good deedsJACFA Christmas Fund Campaign—A Great Success!

Last November, after receiving approval from the GeneralAssembly, JACFA embarked on a campaign for the Christmas Fund witha goal of raising $3,000 in new faculty donations. Due to youroverwhelming generosity, JACFA raised well beyond that goal. 25 newfaculty members signed up for payroll deductions for 2008, raising$2,791.00. Fourteen faculty members contributed lump sums totalling$1,026.00. And finally, ten teachers renewed their payroll deductions,increasing this total by $1,846.00. The final tally: $5,663.00. Allmonies raised will go directly to students for food, books and otherexpenses.

A legal ripple effect caused by the CSN effort.A year ago, the CSN convinced the Bureau international du travail

(BIT) that the adopted Québec laws (decrees) imposing workingconditions on its employees contravened international treaties.

This BIT judgement directly influenced theSupreme Court of Canada who in turn invalidatedin June 2007 a similar B.C. law in the HealthServices and Support – Facilities SubsectorBargaining Assn. v. British Columbia, 2007 SCC 27case, and recognised the collective right to bargainfor the first time since the Charter was enacted in1982.

Last November 30, the Québec Superior Courtapplied the new Health and Services ruling anddeclared Québec Law 30 (imposing negotia-tionswith forced merger of the unions in the healthsector) unconstitutional: a major victory for theunions in general and members of the CSN inparticular.

Now the legal table is set for having ourinfamous Law 43 invalidated.

5

jacfanews February 2008

(continued on page 8)

The John Abbott College Faculty Association (JACFA) isa member of FNEEQ (Fédération nationale des ensei-gnantes et enseignants du Québec), a federation repre-senting 73 unions, and more than 25,000 members from36 cegeps, 31 private institutions and 12 universities.FNEEQ, in turn, is one of the nine federations of CSN(Conféderation des syndicats nationaux).

On November 5, 2007, “the cream of the crop” met in Saint-Sauveurin the Laurentians for a Davos-style summit on health care at the invita-tion of Raymond Chrétien, nephew of the former prime minister. Themeeting convened 100 leaders from 15 countries and was organized bythe World Health Executive Forum, whose head office is in Montreal. Thisorganization is to health care what the World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland, is to the economy, according to a document marked “strictlyconfidential” that was attached to the invitation. This group of expertsdoesn’t hide its leanings. It is in favour of greater private-sectorinvolvement in health care, just like the Fraser Institute, the MontrealEconomic Institute, the Canadian Medical Association and all theChaoullis and Jean Coutus of the world.

One myth that is largely fuelled by proponents of the private sectorand continues to hold sway among the population pertains to the publicsystem’s current problems regarding access to services. People wronglybelieve that if the rich paid for these services in private clinics, thebacklog in the hospitals would diminish. Chaoulli and Coutu go so far asto claim that if doctors in the public system worked in private healthservices on evenings or weekends, the wait lists would be reduced. Thisis pure fabrication. How can they assert such a thing in a context of staffshortages? Why should doctors offer overtime to the private sector rather

The private sector in health care: debunking a few mythsBy Claudette CarbonneauPresident of the CSN

Private Sector

than to the public sector when we know thatprivate clinics are more expensive, with profitmargins ranging from 10 to 15%? Why shouldSacré-Coeur Hospital pay $600 every time apatient is operated on by a subcontractor –Clinique Rockland MD – even when theoperation is cancelled? Why encour-age thefew available nurses to switch to the privatesector by promising a nice 9-to-5 schedule?

As for “the rich who’ll just have to pay fortheir own services,” it is important to definewho they are. Are we talking about the middleclass or the wealthiest 1% of the population?At our last meeting with the Castonguay taskforce, we strongly warned against the tempt-ation of relying more on private insurance tofund services that are already insured underthe public system. With statistics and evidenceto support our case, we demonstrated that thecost of group health insurance plans isescalating. How could we increase coverage toinclude knee surgery, hip surgery, cataractsurgery and so on, when workers are alreadyfinding it increasingly difficult to pay for grouphealth insurance?

The average group insurance premium atthe SSQ (main insurance company in the publicsector) in both the private and public sectorshas gone up from $495 in 1996 to $1,043 in2006 – an increase of 111% – mainly due to

6 February 2008

News from the FNEEQRegroupement Cegep

The last Regroupement Cegep was held December 18-19, 2007 inQuebec City.

Grievance on Strike DaysBad memories… In the winter of 2005, we were told to make up our

legal strike days at the end of the semester. FNEEQ went to theCommission des Relations du Travail du Québec and lost the case in May2006. The CRT commissioner, Jean Lalonde, gave a brief report saying thatthe make-up days did not constitute reprisal measures and did not impedethe union’s capacity to mobilize its members.

Grievances were also filed and we are patiently awaiting the arbitrationdecision. One of the arguments that was used is that our availability is notour work. For example, suppose the nurses’ unions held a one-day legalstrike. The legality is important here but they are, of course, penalized witha one-day pay cut. A nurse is typically available seven (7) days a week tothe employer. The employer orders the nurses who were actually on striketo make up the day for free. Would that make sense?

We made-up the days, now pay us!

Increase in Pension Premiums(RREGOP)

We were all surprised to hear about the increase in our pensioncontributions. The rate went from 7.06% to 8.19% on January 1, 2008.This means that you now pay 8.19% on the portion of your salary thatexceeds $15,715. For example, a teacher with a master’s degree at thetop of the scale makes $68,720. Prior to the increase, the teacher wouldhave paid $143.93 per pay [7.06% * (68,720-15,715)]. With the raise, thesame teacher pays $166.97, an increase of $23.04 per pay.

RREGOP had a surplus of $5 billion at the end of the 1990s and aftersome debate it was decided to reduce the rate from 7.95% to 5.35%where it stayed for five years. This reduction was made in the context ofthe PQ-Bouchard zero-deficit agenda. The government’s arguments at thattime were that the pension plan was flush, so many civil servants wereoffered advantageous early retirements, and the government was able toreduce its matching contribution, which looks good in the governmentalexpense column. (But this is only an accounting exercise! In effect, thegovernment is supposed to match our contributions, but it doesn’t. It

simply goes in the debt column). At the time, theCSN argued for a smaller decrease incontributions and it seems that following itsadvice would have been financially prudent.

Although the RREGOP return on investmentswas not bad in 2006, it seems that an increaseof 102,000 to 127,000 projected retirees is themain reason for this increase.

Retiring beforeJanuary 1, 2010?

If you plan to retire before January 1, 2010and you have received retroactive payments fromthe pay equity agreement, then the sums youreceived in 2007 will be calculated as salary in2007. In other words, 2007 will probably be oneof your best five years used for the calculation ofyour pension benefits. If you retire after that, theretroactivity will be spread over the “real” yearsand some portion of retroactivity might get lostin the calculations.

For example, someone who received aretroactive pay adjustment of $1,500 in 2007and participated for 30 years in RREGOP wouldsee his/her benefit increased by $360 per year.A detailed table is available at:http://www.carra.gouv.qc.ca/fra/equite/pdf/grille_equite_RREGOP_fra.pdf.

Meeting of the 59 Cegep Unions

On February 7 in Montreal, an historicmeeting will be held of the 59 unions of collegeteachers. The three federations [FAC, FNEEQ(CSN) and FEC (CSQ)] have not had a commonmeeting since 1997. The three union

(continued on page 7)

fneeq

jacfanews 7

Collège du Vieux-Montréal: 102 Students Arrested

It’s well known that students from Cégep du Vieux-Montréal are more radical than in some other institutions. Aspart of the students’ struggle against the increase ofuniversity tuition fees, the student association there organizeda bed-in the night of November 13. This type of action hasbeen held on numerous occasions over the last few years andhas always been done in a civil manner, with no violence norvandalism. This time, however, the College refused toauthorize the event for security and legal reasons as theMontreal Fire Department refused to authorize the event.Surprisingly, after being asked the reasons why, the firedepartment mentioned that they do not get involved anymorein these sorts of decisions! The second reason, even moreludicrous, is Law 43! The college claimed to be afraid, byauthorizing the event, to be complicit with the students inaltering the work at the college… Of course, the studentswent ahead anyways. After consulting the faculty union onwhat to do (and the union wisely advised not to provoke thestudents and authorize the event because it would aggravatethe situation), the College decided to delegate theresponsibility to its security department.

What had to happen… happened! The riot squad enteredthe college around 2 a.m. using pepper spray and tasers, aswell as pointing lasers at students after turning off the lights.A real panic ensued. 102 students were tied-up, put facedown and left for hours and finally incarcerated. Theadministration of the College had to call Jean-Marc Petit, thepresident of the faculty union, to go to the college and calmdown the students and the police!

The students were accused of vandalism, violenceagainst police officers, and other charges.

The JACFA Executive, along with most FNEEQ unions, havesent a letter to the administration of the College denouncingthe manner in which they handled the situation and askingthat the charges filed against the students be dropped.

A copy of the letter can be found on the JACFA website.

federations intend to agree on a common letter and strategyto address the federal transfers issue and the lack of fundingfor college education. The meeting is part of a widerconsultation on the teaching profession that was held at theend of the fall. Also, rest assured that your thoughtfulcomments on the teaching profession made at the lastgeneral assembly were transmitted and will be stressed againat that meeting, if necessary.

It seems that we have to remind our government-employer that a major part of these sums ($75M) must gowhere it counts…in the classroom.

Bill 50:Deprofessionalization ofCorrectional Intervention

The Minister of Justice, Jacques Dupuis, has deposited abill at the National Assembly that could have a drastic impacton three career programs. The only program affected at JohnAbbott is Youth and Adult Correctional Intervention. The scopeof Bill 50 is to redistribute and assign evaluation practices toprofessionals, namely to psychotherapists. This will certainlydevalue the work of students graduating from the program. Itis worth noting that one of the main competencies thatstudents are required to learn in the program is the evaluationof situations that require intervention and decisions abouttreatment and follow-up. This new legislation could therebydrastically affect the program’s curriculum and become a lotless attractive to students. The Youth and Adult CorrectionalIntervention program is offered in three other cegeps and thechairs are already at work to block these changes. One hasbeen released from teaching in order to attend theparliamentary session on this bill and to report to thecommittee. The two other programs affected by Bill 50 areSpecial Care Counselling (351) and Social Service (388). Thisis an issue that we will continue to monitor.

February 2008

…News from FNEEQ (cont’d from p. 6)

fneeq

8 February 2008 Private Sector

The private sector in health care: debunking a few myths (cont’d from p. 5)

rising drug costs. For some employees with a non-regular job status,this represents up to 10% of their salary. At the CSN, the mostextensive group insurance plan that covers employees working inhealth care and social services has witnessed an even higherincrease: 130% in eight years. Actuarial projections for the next 10years show that this trend will hold, with 8% increases annually. Itshould be noted in passing that the group plan is very representativeof the average population in Québec, as the basic premium is basedon an average salary of about $37,000.

In the face of such substantial increases, employees are having ahard time making ends meet. Many have to give up part of theircoverage. Some have to drop their group insurance plan altogether, asit has become too costly. Given this context, the advent of new privateinsurance coverage is illusory. A crisis in group insurance is loomingon the horizon and we are expected to believe that there is room toadd new coverage? It’s absolutely absurd.

Another myth is that the private sector doesn’t have a largeenough role in Québec. Yet it already corners 30% of healthcarefunding, while the government holds a 70% share – less than theaverage in OECD countries, which is about 75%. Incidentally, theCSN’s criticisms about greater reliance on private insurance are basedon a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD), “Private Health Insurance in OECDCountries” (Assurance-maladie privée dans les pays de l’OCDE),published in November 2004. This study acknowledges that parallelhealthcare systems favour the rich and those who are younger,healthier or who have health problems that are less expensive totreat.

It also demonstrates that the development of private healthinsurance increases total spending on health care without alleviatingthe public burden. According to the OECD, a number of factorscontribute to this situation: having private medical insuranceencourages people to use more medical services and care, and thisincreases costs; government authorities do not monitor private-sectoractivities and costs as closely; higher fees in the private sector andthe quest for profits raise costs; a system involving a single payer isbetter placed than private insurance companies to negotiate the costand quality of care; complex cases are not covered by private healthinsurance and continue to come under the public system.

And yet these proponents would still lead us to believe that the

private sector is the solution! That’s highly doubtful.This is why we continue to believe in our public

healthcare system. We know it’s not perfect, but wewill be proposing solutions to improve access toservices for everyone. We will be saying this loudlyand clearly at the “Davos” summit on health care,the forum of the Québec College of Physicians, andany other available platform.

The degradation of our public health systemworries us to the highest degree, and maintainingthe status quo will not solve our current problems.

We denounce the turn toward private healthfinancing, establishing private parallel clinics andthe government’s budgetary choice not to reinvestin health at a time that Quebecers have reaffirmedthat health is their top priority.

We demand that the government:• preserve the public insurance to cover illness,

care and services;• enshrine in Quebec law principles that would

guarantee universal and free access tonecessary medical care;

• finally act against the growing private financingof the health care system;

• prevent the founding of a parallel private healthcare system;

• promote a profound reform of the way ourpublic health care system is organized, incollaboration with different stakeholders, sothat future investments will finally bear fruit.

PLEASE sign the online FTQ-CSN petition tosupport the public health system!

http://votezsante.com/

jacfanews 9February 2008

Faculty Profile:

Ute Beffert, NursingI have been a nurse for over 20 years and continue to witness the dynamic changes of the

profession first hand, while remaining actively involved in the nursing field. As I became aware of theyounger generation entering and becoming disillusioned with the profession, I decided to tackle thisdilemma from another vantage point and entered the teaching profession in the fall of 2001. Itseemed only natural to return to the place that held so many positive memories for me: John Abbott.

Teaching holds its own challenges. Many of these challenges are a pleasure to work with andlearn from. Nursing teachers are in the dilemma of being both teachers and nurses who must protectthe public. To help and support the nurses, we have the Quebec Order of Nurses. However, there wasno specific organization to help the nursing teachers, although we had unions that oversaw thegeneral profession of teaching. To compensate for that lack, AEESICQ was established 20 yearsago. We are a unique pedagogical organization that exists to advance cegep nursing education and tosupport the role of the nurse/teacher in the nursing DEC programs. Over the past four years in thisAssociation, I have been regional counselor, vice president and, since June 2007, president. We area strictly volunteer organization and membership is also voluntary. We represent over 40 cegeps andteaching institutions that offer nursing at the cegep level.

The nursing profession in Quebec is quite different from that in other provinces. Cegep nursinggraduates have the right to practice and the college system produces approximately 70% of thenursing candidates yearly. We are the only province that has a college nursing program and as youread on, this uniqueness is being questioned and possibly challenged.

Faculty Profile

From left to right: Bill Tierney (English), John Sheshko (H/P/R), JACFA's President - Faye Trecartin, Francine Gervais (French), Jean-Marie Guimond (French)Diane Brescia (Nursing), Louise Breault (French), JACFA's Social Director - Daniel Gosselin and Umanath Tiwari (Mathematics).Missing from the picture are:André Benoit (Aerospace), Ved Bhola (Physics), Diane Fagg (Nursing), Patricia Green-Milberg (Geography), Margaret Seaborn(Nursing), and George Springate (Police Tech.).

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10 February 2008

Association des Enseignantes et Enseignants en Soins Infirmiers des Collèges du QuébecAssociation of College Nursing Instructors of Quebec

The AEESICQ is concerned with issues regarding the cegep nursingprogram and the right of its graduates to practice nursing after three yearsof cegep training. We represent over 40 cegeps and Centre d’étudescollégiales across the province of Quebec.

We are constantly working on pedagogical issues that affect thecegep nursing program. More recently we have been watching the QuebecOrder of Nurses’ (OIIQ) actions closely and reviewing the recent brief thatwas sent out to all nurses present at the latest OIIQ general assemblyentitled, Mémoire OIIQ: (Une nouvelle approche de planification deseffectifs infirmiers: des choix à faire de toute urgence!) This brief suggestsintroducing several different permits to practice nursing in Québec. Upuntil now, there has been one permit, accessible post-DEC or post-university (bachelor’s degree). The brief also suggests limiting the DECnurse’s right to practice in certain areas if they if they do not have abachelor’s degree. The DEC-Bachelor’s integrated program is supported inthe brief. But where does that leave the nurse with only a DEC orconversely a bachelor’s degree: this is not clear. A cegep nursing DEC isnot validated in this document. The AEESICQ is concerned about wherethe OIIQ is going with this brief and the implications it will have on ourprograms and enrollment if these suggest-ons are adopted?

The AEESICQ has distributed the brief to all its members and held aconsultation (Dec. 7, 2007) of our membership for reactions to this briefand any course of action to be decided upon. After the Dec. 7consultation, the AEESICQ Executive were mandated to ask the OIIQ tostate its position about the right of DEC nursing graduates to practice afterthree years of cegep training. A letter to this effect was sent to Mme G.Desrosiers, President of the OIIQ, requesting a response by the end ofJanuary 2008.

With the data gathered at the Dec 7 consultation, we are alsopreparing an official AEESICQ response to the brief. This response shouldbe ready by the end of January/February 2008. We have until Marchbefore the OIIQ officially presents the brief to the appropriate governmentbodies.

We have also invited Lina Bonamie, President of the nursing unionFIQ, to meet with us. We would like to discuss her union’s position withregards to this brief, as well as gather as much support as possible in theprocess.

We are following up with the cegep unions and the MELS (MinistereEducation, Loisirs et Sports). They all had representation present on Dec.7 and are aware of the situation. We hope to continue to have goodrelations and support from all involved.

OIIQ Clinical/Stage Survey:The OIIQ is currently trying to collect detailed

information from all cegep nursing chairs as to whichareas of stage are being used in each semester, themethod of stage supervision, the hours of stage, andany difficulties encountered in these areas. What thisinformation will be used for is very vague. We feel itshould be the dean’s decision as to whether or not thechairs should complete this form as they weresupposed to have received more information regardingthese surveys. Some cegeps have already decided notto fill out the survey. As well, they were to beanonymous yet all have a coded number.

Comité formation: A committee overseeing nursing education in

Québec was created by the Québec Order of Nurses in2006. Yet even though we represent over 70% of thegraduates who enter the workforce yearly, we as cegepnursing educators do not have representation on thiscommittee. There are two cegep academic deans fromurban cegeps who are members of this committee.Again we are making a request to be a part of thiscommittee if only in a consultation role. We plan tomeet with two members of this committee soon (MmeFilion, Cegep Limoilou, & M. Dauphin, CollegeMaisonneuve). We have sent an invitation to meet withsuggested times, but no meeting date is set yet.

Chemistry prerequisite:It has come to our attention that the MELS has

issued a report stating that students who do not passchemistry prior to registering for the nursing programare still able to enter the program until 2010-2011. TheAEESICQ denounces this acceptance and has written aletter to the MELS stating our position. We feel thestudents have more difficulty when taking chemistry atthe same time as nursing courses and many takelonger to complete the program or even fail. Highschools have had several years to incorporate thischemistry prerequisite into their programs; we feel thatthey have had enough time.

Respectfully submitted by:Ute Beffert, AEESICQ, January 2008

11February 2008jacfanews

In 2008, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) isre-launching the Alliance Syndicats et Tiers-Monde (ASTM)campaign. This campaign was first established at the CSNcongress in 1986, with the objective of creating a fund entirelydevoted to philanthropic international action in support ofhumanitarian causes. At the time, the idea was to raiseindividual member contributions of $0.01 per hour worked. Forexample, in colleges, this would mean roughly $1.30 per month(32.5 hours of availability). The campaign never really took offand the main contributors to the fund have been the CSNemployees (STT-CSN).

In order to adapt the CSN’s international solidarity efforts to new global realities, the objectivesof this campaign are: (1) to enlarge the fund’s scope of activities; (2) to provide the CSN with moreautonomy and capacity to act in the international arena; and (3) to get members of CSN unions onboard!

Guy Ryder, the secretary-general of the new International Trade Union Confederation, stated atits founding convention: The majority of union struggles on the national level are linked tointernational globalization issues and therefore it’s in the union movement’s interest to work towardreinforcing the civil structures of the developing world, to support work cooperatives, womenstruggles, etc.

By enlarging ASTM’s mandate, the CSN could support (either alone or in collaboration withNGOs) projects going beyond strict humanitarian assistance. Since 1990, ASTM has supported over30 different projects in Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia for a total of $500,000.

For more information: http://www.csn.qc.ca/Campagnes/alliance-synd_TM/alliance-synd-tm.html.

International

jacfanews12

Fédération nationale desenseignantes et enseignantsdu Québec

John Abbott College Faculty AssociationPenfield-105P.O. Box 2000Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue (Québec) H9X 3L9

Phone: (514) 457-6610 ext. 5506

Fax:(514) 457-9799

Email:jacfa@johnabbott.qc.ca

Website:www.johnabbott.qc.ca/jacfa

February 2008

RRSP 2007 FONDACTIONThursday February 21 and Tuesday February 26 from11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Michel Milot, the JACFA rep for Fondaction-CSN will be in the union office (P-105) to answerquestions about Fondaction and to help you with your RRSP contributions for 2007, should you want tocontribute.

Fondaction-CSN, is an investment fund mainly intended to lend financial aid to Quebec enterprises inorder to maintain or create jobs, stimulate the economy, contribute to the training of Quebec men andwomen workers and promote their participation in the development of such enterprises. Fondaction isinterested and active with emerging companies (as well as established ones) preoccupied byenvironmental issues and aiming sustainable development.

As you probably know, it is possible to contribute to Fondaction’s RRSP through payroll deductions(PD) here at John Abbott. PD gives you an immediate tax reduction of approximately 70%. For example,should you wish to contribute $2500 in your RRSP per year, your net pay will be reduced by $30.41. Thiscalculation is based on a 50,000$ salary and 26 periods of pay.

Why 70% return? Usually, you get roughly 40% tax reduction for regular types of RRSP. Fondaction(like the Fond de Solidarité-FTQ), is a worker fund and it offers an extra 30% in tax credits (15% Quebec,15% Canada). See you soon!