(Quebec) With the ongoing impasse in negotiations to renew public sector collective agreements, Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy has had enough. She explains that Treasury Department President Sonia LeBel is no longer the woman for the job. In her opinion, Prime Minister François Legault must take part in the negotiations in order to prevent strikes from multiplying.
Published at 12:13 p.m. Updated at 12:30 p.m.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the Liberal MP didn’t mince her words in front of the government’s chief negotiator. “If she is not competent to stand trial, we will have to appoint someone else to negotiate in her place,” she said.
“Right now, Quebecers want the problem to be resolved as quickly as possible. We want a negotiated, regulated agreement because at the moment there are services that are not being provided. We are overtaxing the resources we call our guardian angels. […] If we drag out negotiations, there is a risk of acrimony towards the workers we want to keep on the public network,” Ms Rizqy said.
The member for Saint-Laurent then listed the unions with which the President of the Ministry of Finance has not yet been able to reach an agreement in principle. “Zero out of ten,” she insisted, reiterating “that something is not working” and that, in her opinion, the impasse lies in Sonia LeBel’s office.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Marwah Rizqy
“Out of ten groups, it’s zero in ten. She is incapable of committing anyone. The only thing that could sign her was the Los Angeles Kings,” she said.
Last week, at the request of the Common Front, the Legault government called mediator Mathieu Lebrun to the negotiating table. For the unions, this is an “extraordinary measure” as “the involvement of an arbitrator at the central table has never been requested,” they said.
The latest government offer includes a 10.3% pay rise over five years and a lump sum payment of $1,000 in the first year. There is also an amount of 3% reserved for “government priorities”, meaning the government presents its offer at a value of 14.8% over five years. The unions rejected this offer, saying it was “ridiculous”. They have not made a counteroffer, which Quebec is also demanding.
On Tuesday, the Common Front also announced that its 420,000 members would extend seven new days of strike from December 8 to 14. The next step would be an indefinite general strike.
With the Canadian Press