The boss of the FTQ who flies to Dubai to attend COP28 while her members freeze in the street. The FAE which brings out the nuclear weapon of the unlimited strike even if the negotiations continue.
Serious ?
Looking at the recent turn of negotiations in the public service, it seems that union leaders do not fully appreciate the impact of this historic strike which is paralyzing Quebec.
However, the consequences are serious.
For patients who have their operation postponed.
For CEGEP students who are stressed at the idea of missing their end of session, their mental health has already deteriorated so much with the pandemic.
For primary and secondary students who find themselves at home once again, when COVID-19 had caused their academic success to take a nosedive.
For their parents who are forced to take leave or go out of their way to have them looked after.
And for the union members themselves who are deprived of wages.
While the Common Front of Central Trade Unions (CSN-CSQ-FTQ-APTS) announced new strike days on Tuesday, it was surreal to learn that the leader of the FTQ, Magali Picard, had simply taken the plane to go and discuss the environment at COP28.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Magali Picard, president of the FTQ, on November 6
Agree, climate change is a crucial issue for the planet. But what difference does the presence of Mme Will Picard perform at this high mass of 70,000 participants? Its place is in Quebec. His energy must be 100% invested in bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, Mme Picard understood this, announcing his hasty return. Ironically, its round trip will only have served to increase GHG emissions. And to demonstrate that it is not only the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) which is disconnected from reality, with its subsidies of seven million dollars for two hockey games in Quebec.
Meanwhile, the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) has launched an indefinite strike. This “all or nothing” approach also raises eyebrows.
Why bring out the club, when the Common Front announces strike days piecemeal and accepts the help of a conciliator that the FAE refuses? Why block everything, when Prime Minister François Legault has just said that he is ready to put more money on the table, giving hope for an acceleration of negotiations?
We have no choice: we have to talk to each other.
Historically, in Quebec, the government used to let strikes drag on until the population was fed up. Then, he introduced a special law ordering a return to work and determining working conditions.
But since the Saskatchewan decision in 2015, it is no longer so simple. The Supreme Court has determined that a strike is a constitutional right protected by the Charter. If the government can impose essential services, it cannot unilaterally decree working conditions as in the past.
This adds a layer of difficulty to a negotiation where the stakes are already colossal.
Union members are demanding salary increases to maintain their purchasing power in the face of an inflationary surge not seen in 40 years. They are also demanding better working conditions, while the labor shortage and the increase in clientele are putting unprecedented pressure on the network, in both health and education.
The challenge is big. The future of our public services is at stake. The solution involves reorganizing work. But how can we reach a satisfactory agreement? Is it possible to move away from the logic of confrontation to favor an alternative method of conflict resolution?
This is the bet that Ontario made in its recent negotiations with teachers.
Conservative Prime Minister Doug Ford was a long way off, having used the notwithstanding clause to suspend the constitutional right of his employees to negotiate their employment contracts last year. This odious act of force had returned to his face, raising enormous protests.
Still, the government and the teaching unions agreed to put in place a new mechanism providing that questions remaining in dispute, after a specific period of negotiation, would be decided by an arbitrator.
On both sides, this strategy entails perils.
The government runs the danger that the arbitrator will split the pear in two, without taking into account the taxpayers’ ability to pay.
And union representatives run the risk that their members will one day wonder why they pay them such high dues – some two billion dollars per year in Quebec – if it is the arbitrator who does all the work.
But precisely this threat pushes both parties to find ingenious solutions to resolve as many issues as possible before the arbitrator decides for them. The closer the deadline, the more productive the negotiations.
If we managed to bury the hatchet in Ontario, we can also make peace in Quebec.
The position of La Presse
As Quebec plunges into a historic strike, the agreement between Ontario and its teachers thanks to an alternative method of conflict resolution can give us hope.