According to information leaked on the union group's website, the increases for around 420,000 Common Front employees would amount to 17.4% over five years.
Posted at 12:07 p.m.
“In wages, the Joint Front achieved increases of 17.4% over five years, accompanied by a purchasing power protection clause for each of the last three years of the collective agreement, as well as an equal number of improvements in working conditions.” It reads.
The page, which is no longer on the site, was registered by Google at 08:26 GMT (or 03:26 in Montreal) on January 1, 2024, four days after an agreement was reached between the Front Common and Quebec.
To this salary increase, we continue, “are added significant benefits in group insurance and vacation, in addition to elements related to parental rights, the recruitment and retention of professionals and psychologists in particular”.
“With regard to the pension system, some improvements have been achieved and major setbacks have been avoided. All this leads to several improvements achieved in sectoral agreements,” also writes the Common Front.
On the way to a global agreement in principle
On Wednesday, the Joint Front refused to confirm the information published online. An update of its representatives must be made at the request of its member associations.
Treasury President Sonia LeBel's office also said it would not comment.
The document posted online states that a detailed notice of the draft agreement in principle reached with Quebec will be sent to Common Front union members “around January 7.”
Until then, the four member associations of the Common Front (CSN, CSQ, FTQ and APTS) had to convene their delegations to present to them the content of the proposed agreements concluded at the central table and at the sectoral tables to determine whether they are in principle a global agreement. Union members are then asked to vote in principle on these agreements at general meetings.
Significant differences
Before Christmas, the Common Front said it was prepared to sign five-year collective agreements, but stopped short of quantifying its demands for that period. At the start of negotiations, he instead called for increases of around 23% over three years.
Quebec, in turn, had signaled that it was prepared to increase its last salary increase offer by 12.7% within five years. For the same period, the Common Front had recently initially called for an indexation clause of 18.1% to cover the increase in the cost of living and a salary increase of 7% for “enrichment”. He has since questioned the 7% increase.
The Joint Front also reiterated that “to reach agreement at the central table, progress must be made” on insurance and skilled workers, as well as on working conditions at the various sector tables.