An agreement in principle has been reached between Revenu Québec and the union which represents 5,800 professionals.
The Syndicate of Government Professionals of Quebec (SPGQ) has indicated that the agreement, which was deemed satisfactory by the negotiating committee, will now be submitted to an intermediate body next week.
It will be up to this body to decide whether the agreement in principle should then be presented to the members. If necessary, they could be called upon to decide by the end of February, said the president of the SPGQ, Guillaume Bouvrette, in an interview Thursday.
SPGQ members have been on evening and weekend strikes since last September. This limited strike mainly affects information technology employees. It is maintained for the moment, said Mr. Bouvrette.
The union had also announced an indefinite strike starting February 3, but it was not carried out. The Quebec Revenue Agency had indeed addressed the Administrative Labor Tribunal, which had declared that this indefinite strike would have “no legal value” since no agreement had been concluded concerning the provision of essential services.
The tentative agreement covers wages and working conditions. Mr. Bouvrette did not want to reveal the content, preferring to keep the scoop for his members, as is usually the case in such circumstances.
However, the duration of the collective agreement is different from that of other agreements in the public and parapublic sectors. The public sector unions had renewed their agreements until March 31, 2023, which had expired on March 31, 2020. However, the agreement in principle between the SPGQ and Revenu Québec provides for a later expiry date than March 2023, that Mr. Bouvrette did not want to reveal.
The professionals of the Quebec Revenue Agency affected hold positions in tax auditing, such as computer analysts or process analysts, for example.
In a written statement sent at the end of the day Thursday, Revenu Québec said it was “happy to have reached an agreement in principle […]. Our primary objective has always been to reach a negotiated agreement, and we would like to thank the SPGQ for [sa] contribution in this direction.