At this time when the Common Front of trade union centers says it is “outraged” to see MPs vote for a 30% pay rise with a view to making up for a large number of years without a raise, I think that deserves to be clarified.
With their current base salary of $101,561, MPs look fat tough when union leaders hammer that the “rising cost of living weighs heavily on all 420,000 Common Front members, whose salaries annual average is $43,916”.
Seen in the same way, it is obvious that the salary gap between the deputies of the National Assembly and the employees of the public and parapublic service is immensely large.
In the place of union leaders, I would keep myself a little embarrassed. You should know that the gap is even greater if we compare the salaries of union leaders with those of the employees they represent.
At the FTQ, the president, Magali Picard, earns a salary of $181,000 and the general secretary, Denis Bolduc, $172,000.
Photo archives, Ben Pelosse
Magali Picard, President of the FTQ
At the CSN, I am told that the president, Caroline Senneville, earns 30% more than the lower echelons of union advisers, which would bring her salary to around $136,000.
File photo, Simon Clark
Caroline Senneville, President of the CSN
The salary of his colleagues on the executive committee of the CSN? It would be around $125,000, based on the information I was given.
On the side of the Centrale des unions du Québec (CSQ), the president, Éric Gingras, is entitled to a salary of $ 153,659. His four colleagues on the Executive Council receive $140,298 each.
Archival photo, Mario Beauregard
CSQ President Eric Gingras
At the FIQ (Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec), the president, Julie Bouchard, and her colleagues on the Executive Committee receive an average compensation of $150,000 per year.
Photo provided by the FIQ
Julie Bouchard at the head of the FIQ
At the SFPQ (Public and Parapublic Service Union), a salary of approximately $118,000 is paid to the president, Christian Daigle, and $112,000 to the general secretary, Martine Duchesne.
File photo, Simon Clark
Christian Daigle holds the position of president of the SFPQ
For their part, President Robert Comeau and the members of the executive committee of the APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) share an average salary of $150,875 per person (including contributions to the retirement and benefits).
PITOU AND KITTY
“What’s good for pup must be good for pup. »
This is how the spokespersons of the Common Front of public and parapublic employees apostrophized François Legault and his caquistes during their recent demonstration during the CAQ convention, on May 13. They described the Legault government’s offers as “contemptuous”, based on the fact that the CAQ government “is itself preparing to immediately increase the remuneration of parliamentarians by nearly 30%”, while the offer made “to its public service workers is ten times less, or 3% on April 1, 2023”.
The Common Front says it is “outraged”. He believes that the CAQ government has added “a layer of insults by presenting a bill to increase its own salaries”.
In order to make up for several years of salary catch-up, the Legault government tabled a bill aimed at raising the base salary of MPs from $101,561 to $131,766. That of ministers would increase from $177,732 to $230,591. And as for the Prime Minister’s salary, it would climb from $208,200 to $270,120.
This increase is very frowned upon.
“Faced with the insulting offers and the government’s intransigence at the bargaining tables, our members gave us a very clear message: we’re getting poorer, out of the question! The devaluation of public networks is over,” declared Common Front spokespersons François Enault, first vice-president of the CSN, Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, Denis Bolduc, general secretary of the FTQ, and Robert Comeau, President of the APTS.
Here is what the Common Front is calling for in order to solve the labor shortage in the public services. He claims:
- an increase of $100 per week for the year 2023;
- or according to the consumer price index (CPI) +2% (according to the most advantageous formula);
– CPI +3% for 2024;
– and the CPI +4% for 2025.
Based on the forecasts for the consumer price index (CPI) reported in Finance Minister Eric Girard’s Budget Plan last March, we would be talking here about a request for a salary increase of 5.6% in 2023, 5.2% in 2024 and 6.2% in 2025.
Total increase requested over three years: 18%!
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