Without a collective agreement for three years, bogged down in slow negotiations, the employees of the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec (BAnQ) are preparing to go on strike on February 14.
The Union of United Workers of the Library and National Archives of Quebec (STTuBAnQ-CSN) announced Wednesday morning that it had officially sent its strike notice to the Ministry of Labor.
At a general meeting in mid-January, its members voted 94% to have a bank of 10 days off work. Unless there is a turnaround and progress in the negotiations by then, the first five days of the strike will therefore be used as of February 14 in the morning.
“Current inflation is making us poorer with every paycheck, since we haven’t received a raise for four years. The more time passes, the more our members become impatient with negotiations that have been dragging on for nothing for more than a year,” said union president Sylviane Cossette in a press release.
For months, employees have been hoping to find a satisfactory agreement — including a salary increase — with their employer and the Treasury Board. The problem is that the negotiations are slow, due in particular to the multiple changes of the representative of the Secretariat of the Treasury Board at the negotiating table, which oblige each time to start from scratch, according to the union.
Low salaries
According to his calculations, BAnQ employees have a much lower salary than many of their colleagues in other Quebec libraries. By way of comparison: a library clerk working at BAnQ earns about $33,000 a year, while he can expect to raise $37,200 at the Université de Montréal, $43,700 at the City of Beloeil or even $49,300. to the City of Brossard.
Meanwhile, departures are increasing internally, which deprives the institution of the expertise it needs.
“The Treasury Board must quickly correct this problem and improve the budget envelope that will promote the attraction and retention of its employees,” insists Stéphanie Gratton, vice-president of the Federation of Public Service Employees (FEESP –CSN).
At the time these lines were written, the Treasury Board had not yet responded to the To have to.