(Montreal) Representatives of the various unions that form the common front of the public sector will begin meeting on Wednesday to consider the proposed agreement in principle reached on December 28 on the renewal of collective agreements.
Published at 1:28 p.m. Updated at 3:07 p.m.
Lia Lévesque The Canadian Press
At the moment these are conciliation bodies of the trade unions affiliated to the major organizations concerned – CSN, CSQ, APTS and FTQ – and not general meetings of members. The workers' meetings should follow from mid-January, as the members ultimately have to decide.
For example, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is affiliated with the FTQ, will meet its panel on Wednesday to consider the proposed agreement.
The FTQ-affiliated Quebec Union of Service Employees (SQEES) will meet with its local executive committees on Thursday.
The CSN-affiliated Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS) will meet its committees on Thursday and Friday.
The other unions will do the same in the coming days.
The content of the proposed regulation was not filtered, with the exception of the term of the possible contract, i.e. five years, from 2023 to 2028. The collective agreements expired on March 31, 2023.
This discretion over the content of the settlement hypothesis is common when unions keep the news for their members, when at the same time they are entitled to explanations and details when they hold general meetings for voting.
The Common Front has always refused to publicly quantify its demands. It had essentially called for the protection of its members' purchasing power in the form of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and an increase in variable percentages depending on the year in order to “achieve some catch-up in general wages”. .
“And that is what guided us through this storm of negotiations to reach an agreement proposal,” said CSN, CSQ, APTS and FTQ when signing the proposal. Basic agreement on December 28th.
The Ministry of Finance then reiterated that “this important five-year agreement proposal (2023-2028) takes into account the improvement of the working conditions of public servants and the organization of work through greater flexibility in collective agreements.”
The FIQ and the FAE
For the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ), which represents 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, the news is currently less encouraging.
The FIQ has not yet finalized a settlement proposal. However, on December 19, she requested and received the appointment of an arbitrator from the Ministry of Labor.
This then entered the scene. And he called on the parties to refrain from making public statements until January 15, to reduce the pressure and concentrate on discussions at the table. These intensive negotiations continue to this day.
In this context, FIQ will not hold any further strike days until January 15th.
As for the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), President Mélanie Hubert announced on Monday in a communication addressed to its members that “in the coming weeks” they will have the opportunity to decide on the agreement in principle recommended to them “when general meetings are held become.