(Montreal) The agreement in principle between the government and the civil servants represented by the Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ) has been ratified. The majority of members voted in favor of renewing the collective agreement.
Posted at 7:49 p.m.
In an electronic vote held in recent weeks, more than 69% of members exercised their right to vote and the agreement was accepted by 77%.
The agreement concerns the 26,000 members of the Civil Service certification, including office workers and technicians from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec and the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec.
“This agreement makes it possible to begin a salary catch-up that has been long awaited by our members. After several days of strike action and numerous means of pressure, we have finally obtained from the Legault government that it recognize the contribution of public service personnel in the maintenance of Quebec public services”, indicated in a press release the President General of the SFPQ, Christian Daigle.
Last June, during the agreement on the agreement in principle, Mr. Daigle argued that the agreement helped to improve working conditions in the public service in order to remedy the problems of labor shortage .
The three-year agreement provides civil servants with salary increases ranging between 6% and 10%. Added to this are bonuses for some of the staff and other earnings related to working conditions.
Moreover, the revision of the Directive on reimbursable expenses during travel and other inherent expenses is currently being consulted by the employer, which was not provided for in the collective agreement.
The political manager of the negotiation and fourth vice-president of the SFPQ, Karine Dextras-Paquette, affirms that “the fight is not over for all that”.
In a statement, she said the union was beginning preparations for the next round of bargaining. The objective is “to improve the working conditions of personnel working in the public services, so that they become truly competitive with the current labor market”, underlines Mr.me Dextras-Paquette.
The collective agreement for SFPQ civil servants expired on March 31, 2020.