On Monday, strike votes will begin in the unions of the four organizations that form the common front of the public sector. The meetings will take place until October 13th.
The common front, consisting of CSN, CSQ, APTS and FTQ, is asking its 420,000 members for a mandate for an indefinite general strike. However, a possible indefinite strike would be preceded by individual or group strike days.
At the CSN, 33 general meetings must take place in this first week of voting from September 18th to 24th.
At the FTQ, at least twenty strike votes are planned in the member unions in the beginning of the week.
At the CSQ this week there are some planned in the areas of primary and secondary education as well as higher education and health. The meetings would mainly take place in the second and third weeks, it said.
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The meetings will take place until October 13th. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Sylvain Roy-Roussel
On the APTS health and social services side, several meetings are planned this week in the Integrated Health and Social Services Centers (CISSS) of Lanaudière, Laval, Montérégie-Ouest and Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec, as well as the CIUSSS du Nord-de- l’Île-de-Montréal and du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal as well as virtually for members in Montreal.
APTS President Robert Comeau has no doubts about receiving a solid strike mandate.
We feel the outrage. We feel the impatience to reach an agreement. “We have the feeling that people recognize that there is a lack of listening from the government to their demands, particularly on salaries, but also on resolving work overloads,” he explains.
They are also told that it is difficult at the negotiating tables, that there are hardly any constructive discussions and that I therefore cannot imagine how it could end other than with a strong strike mandate.
Because APTS members work in health and social care, they are required to provide essential services in the event of a strike. Mr. Comeau assures us that everything in this chapter is connected.
Yes, it’s over. There are a few things we need to adjust, but nothing major, nothing that would stop us from taking action. It was done well in all companies. Then, of course, we strictly adhere to the agreements with the employer to ensure basic supplies for the population. We will be very, very strict about this, Mr Comeau promised.
The pressure is increasing
So the pressure builds on both sides.
For its part, Quebec announced that various bonuses for public sector workers will expire on September 30. This affects, among others, nurses, specialists and psychologists.
This means thousands of public sector workers will lose earnings while these bonuses are renegotiated.
The collective agreements expired on March 31st. The union demands were submitted in fall 2022 and Quebec submitted its offers in December 2022.
Quebec is offering all public servants a 9% salary increase over five years and a lump sum of $1,000 for the first year of the employment contract. He also wants to dedicate the equivalent of 2.5% to government priorities, meaning he presents his offer at the equivalent of 13% over five years.
The Common Front, for its part, charges $100 per week, or the equivalent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), plus 2% for the first year – whichever formula would be most beneficial to the worker – and then the CPI plus 3% for the second year, then the CPI plus 4% for the third year.