Members of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), the province’s largest nurses’ union, protested in front of the Musée national des Beaux-Arts du Québec earlier this month before marching to the National Assembly. On March 23, the federation announced that it had reached an agreement-in-principle with the government after 15 months of negotiations and several days of non-continuous strikes. According to the FIQ, the tentative agreement includes a salary increase of 17.4 per cent, bonuses for “critical periods” during the summer and winter holidays and stricter rules around forced overtime, which “should only be used in emergencies.” The federation’s 80,000 members will vote on the agreement from April 10-12. “Our members will decide whether we accept [the agreement] or not,” FIQ president Julie Bouchard said in a statement. (RP-LJI) (Photo by Shirley Nadeau from QCT archives)