Magali Picard’s trip to Dubai was short-lived. The president of the FTQ returned to Quebec this morning due to the outcry caused by her presence at COP 28 in the United Arab Emirates while the Common Front is in full negotiations with the government.
• Read also: President of the FTQ: just arrived in Dubai, Magali Picard returns from COP28
• Read also: The Common Front on strike from December 8 to 14
Our journalist Yves Poirier went to welcome him at the Montreal-Trudeau airport upon his arrival in the country.
“I will be very honest with you, what I say to the union members is that whether I am here or at COP28, the same work will be done besides the fact that I will not be the spokesperson for the 600,000 people that “we represent at COP 28,” declares Magali Picard.
His presence in person in Dubai was strongly questioned. “I am not at the negotiating tables, you have to understand that. The four leaders of the Common Front, we are not the ones negotiating. We have negotiation teams. The negotiations continue as they have been doing for a year, even before my arrival as president of the FTQ. We had analyzed everything. The COP is very important. The environment is a priority issue at the FTQ,” says Ms. Picard.
The president of the FTQ maintains that she did not go to COP 28 on a “whim”. “This week, we have no one on the street. We sent the negotiated notices yesterday. We have ten working days before we are allowed to be on the streets, which takes us to December 8th. I changed my flight last week to come back Sunday to Monday to maximize all the workshops I had to do over two weeks into one week. I didn’t realize as a public figure that my agenda would be scrutinized to this extent, knowing full well that I wasn’t giving up anything. In my opinion, I was capable of managing two priority files at the same time.”
- Listen to Alexandre Dubé’s segment on Dutrizac’s microphone via QUB radio:
“I assume that 200 miles per hour”
It was the union dues of FTQ members that were used to pay for the president’s trip to the United Arab Emirates. “I assume that at 200 miles an hour. It costs a lot of money, I won’t hide it from you. It’s about $2,000 per plane ticket,” Magali Picard explains.
However, she returned hastily to the country. Has the ticket price exploded? “No, we have modification and cancellation insurance. We are well equipped. The team understands that the schedule can change at any time. When you see me in business class, I have points for traveling up to 100 years old. The FTQ always pays economy class. When I fly business class, it’s because I take my personal points to upgrade class,” she says.
Magali Picard wants to reassure union members. “If we had had a contract that was one minute to midnight to be signed, I would not have left. If we had people in the street, I wouldn’t have left. This week, I’m going to do what I have to do in the same way through Teams, because that’s how we meet,” she adds.
She is optimistic about the progress of the Common Front negotiations with the government. “I believe in it before Christmas. François Legault’s government has all the pressure in the world. There is the FAE on an indefinite general strike, the FIQ which has just resumed its strike days, we are going to be on strike for seven days until the 14th. We are all here saying the same thing to the government. We are ready,” recalls Magali Picard.