Prime Minister François Legault must stop being a “commentator” and “observer” in negotiations with public sector employees and get personally involved, argues the official opposition in Quebec. However, several unions believe such intervention by the Prime Minister would be “premature” at this stage of the discussions.
“Personally, I think it is better at the moment to have fewer people on the ice,” explained the first vice-president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), François Énault, when asked by the Canadian Press whether he would like an intervention by the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) would welcome Prime Minister in the talks, as requested by the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).
On Sunday morning, the PLQ made a public outing to ask Mr. Legault to communicate personally and directly with union representatives in order to speed up the renewal of the various collective agreements.
It was the duty of Quebec’s head of state, argued Mr. Tanguay.
The Prime Minister’s fundamental responsibility is to engage directly and personally. He argued that he could no longer be an observer and commentator, he had to be an actor.
The words, the weight of the Prime Minister of Quebec, that has its full effect, and we are here. We are there.
The Liberal leader lamented that the government had still failed to reach an agreement with unions representing the approximately 600,000 public servants whose collective bargaining agreements expired last March.
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The interim head of the PLQ, Marc Tanguay. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Sylvain Roy Roussel
Although the unions had warned that the decline would be severe due to the gap between their demands and Quebec’s offers, the government allowed the situation to drag on to the extent that strikes today are affecting public services, lamented Mr. Tanguay, who it is now and asks Mr Legault to correct the situation.
If Prime Minister Legault changes his approach, he has all the tools to change the dynamic, he said.
Instead of telling the workers, “It’s not OK to strike,” if he called them together and sat down with them, he could have a dialogue, a communication, a relationship of trust, and be able to do so directly and personally to be precise to bring them back. It is that [dont] we need.
Reticent unions
When asked about their openness to the idea of such intervention by the Prime Minister, the CSN, CSQ and APTS – which, together with the FTQ, form the Common Front in the current round of negotiations – all replied that it would be preferable if the government did theirs would initially provide negotiators at the various negotiating tables with more resources.
Personalizing the debate will not move things forward. The right place to advance negotiations is at the table, the CSQ emphasized in a written statement.
The CSN’s Mr Énault added that the Prime Minister’s intervention in negotiations usually comes much later in the process, when the parties are close to an agreement, which is not the case at the moment.
On the contrary, we would never refuse a meeting with Mr. Legault, but I think that at the moment [ce serait] premature, he said. The dialogue is there, we have the same goal of reaching an agreement before the holidays and everyone is working on it.
In this sense, Mr. Énault noted that communication with the President of the Ministry of Finance, Sonia LeBel, was still good, even if the implementation of the various strikes might suggest the opposite.
“We don’t hear each other, but there is communication, then the channel is there,” he said. I think Ms. LeBel is currently doing what she needs to do.
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The leaders of the Common Front (from left to right): François Énault (CSN), Robert Comeau (APTS), Magali Picard (FTQ) and Éric Gingras (CSQ).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Sylvain Roy Roussel
The discussions continue
After one- and three-day strikes in November, the Joint Front announced it would walk out for seven days from December 8 to 14. This will be the final step in its pressure tactics before it launches an indefinite general strike if no agreement is reached.
Meanwhile, the Autonomous Federation for Education (FAE), which represents around 66,000 teachers, continues its indefinite general strike, while the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ), which represents 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, will strike from 11 to 14 . December.
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The Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), which represents around 66,500 teachers, submitted a counteroffer to the government on Saturday.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jean-Philippe Robillard
Quebec said it was prepared to improve its latest salary offer, which it said was worth an average of 14.8% over five years, by including an amount of $1,000 in the first year and differentiated offers, under the Condition that the unions agreed to give him more flexibility in work organization.
Without suggesting that the next Common Front strike could be avoided, Mr. Énault assured that serious discussions were still underway.
We have sectoral tables where negotiations took place all weekend. “We start again at the central table on Wednesday because it is difficult to meet our people to tell them where we are,” he stressed.
It is therefore clear that we are fully available until the week of December 18th, when we will meet again with our unions.