(Quebec) The lawyers and notaries of the Quebec state (LANEQ) have ratified an agreement with the government that puts an end to conflicts and litigation that date back to 2016.
Posted at 6:36 p.m.
The Minister responsible for Government Administration and Chair of the Conseil du trésor, Sonia LeBel, and LANEQ announced on Friday that the agreement covers the periods from 2015 to 2020 and from 2020 to 2023. It was approved by 91% during a meeting attended by more than 1,000 members on February 22.
The agreement allows for the settlement of several issues, particularly with regard to the status of lawyers and notaries and the negotiation system, which were at the heart of the disputes that arose between the parties in the context of negotiation and which extended over a period of more than five years, specified the Treasury Board and LANEQ in a joint press release.
The parties have thus agreed on the establishment of a joint committee that will be responsible for resolving the finality of these issues, including compensation.
“The 2016 strike and the special law that forced a return to work have left their mark and this agreement finally allows us to look to the future with optimism,” said LANEQ President Marc Dion.
Last October, the Supreme Court of Canada had put an end to the legal guerrilla warfare between the Government of Quebec and its lawyers, by refusing to hear this case, thus confirming that the special law which had forced the return to work of lawyers in 2017 was unconstitutional. This was ruled by the Superior Court in September 2019 and confirmed by the Court of Appeal last April.
It was a victory for LANEQ, whose members had been forced back to work after a four-month strike in 2016 and 2017. The return to work had been carried out under the threat of heavy fines which were foreseen in the special law of Minister Pierre Moreau, then President of the Treasury Board.
In addition, the special law also prohibited them from going on strike for three years, instituted a mechanism for negotiation and, in the absence of an agreement, the working conditions were to be imposed.