In September, Prime Minister François Legault warned that the fall would be hot due to threats of strikes as part of negotiations for the renewal of public sector collective agreements.
Before the start of the parliamentary term, he showed what kind of wood he was talking about by commenting on the positions of nurses represented by the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ).
“Unions like the FIQ want Labatt Bleue for everyone, wall-to-wall, the same increase,” he lamented.
With the preliminary settlement reached with the Common Front, which represents 420,000 public sector union members, Mr. Legault has put behind him the largest part of the negotiations, where he has been, in recent memory, more present than any other of his predecessors.
The Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec (FIQ) also announced on Friday that a conciliator suggested to the parties a media truce until January 15, given that an agreement is out of reach in the coming days.
“He suggests that the government and the FIQ do not discuss in the traditional media,” indicated the FIQ, which has 80,000 members.
A repeated presence
In November and December, Mr. Legault intensified his interventions. He notably repeated that the government was ready to improve its salary offers.
“In exchange for flexibility, we are ready to improve our offer,” he said at the end of November.
Then, he invited the teachers of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) to stop their indefinite general strike, which led to him being accused of emotional blackmail by the union members. “We cannot hurt our children,” he said on 1er December.
A week later, he anticipated a refusal from the Common Front by showing himself open to improving what was on the table. “We are very open on monetary matters,” he said.
The next day, the Prime Minister still sent a contradictory message to the unions. “It’s going to get rough over the next few weeks,” he warned.
Mr. Legault then moved forward, in mid-December, on a return to class for FAE teachers. “I am hopeful that all the children will return to school this coming Monday,” he said before being contradicted.
The Prime Minister also affirmed that nothing would be resolved with health network employees before January. “As far as health is concerned, it’s very, very difficult,” he confided the same day.
An unusual presence
Two former unionists believe that Mr. Legault harmed negotiations with the public sector with his interventions.
Former Quebec director of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Marc Ranger believes that these statements are unprecedented. “I have never seen this, so many declarations and, at the same time, I have never seen negotiations as public as this,” he said.
Mr. Ranger, who was a unionist for 25 years, believes the Prime Minister’s interventions have confused the message. “There seemed to be disorganization, improvisation,” he noted.
Former president of the Confederation of National Unions (CSN), Gérald Larose is also surprised by the place that Mr. Legault has occupied. “The prime ministers I have known, and I have known five, did not intervene in the negotiations,” he said. If they intervened, above all, they did not disrupt the negotiation process. »
According to Mr. Larose, during the 16 years he chaired the CSN, negotiations were led by the president of the Treasury Board. The Prime Minister made the final decisions. “The prime ministers kept a reserve,” he remembers.
Mr. Legault robbed the unions with his statements, said Mr. Larose. “It was very amateurish,” he said.
The adult in the room
Mr. Ranger noted that negotiations progressed from the moment the public statements ceased. He sees it as the product of the work of the conciliator appointed at the request of the Inter-Union Common Front.
“The conciliator had to send very severe messages to say: enough is enough, radio silence,” he said.
For Mr. Larose, the credit goes to the president of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel. “The only one who saved the furniture was Sonia LeBel, who still managed to put things in order,” he said. He was the adult in the room. »
According to him, Mme LeBel avoided Mr. Legault torpedoing the negotiations with his statement where he said that nothing would be resolved in health before January. “It would have changed the momentum if Mme Lebel had not taken up the collar to say: no, no, no, we do our work at the tables,” he said.
Mr. Ranger believes that Mr. Legault tried to play the public opinion card, a strategy which backfired. “These blunders, when we look at it coldly, worked a little in favor of the unions,” he said.
Last step
Marc Ranger believes that the government has, however, taken some pressure off itself in its discussions with the FIQ by reaching an agreement with the Common Front, which also represents nurses. “The government has the advantage of demonstrating its ability to obtain regulations in a difficult context,” believes Marc Ranger.
However, he believes that nurses will continue to benefit from the support of public opinion. Mr. Larose makes the same observation, which should continue to influence discussions with nurses.
“People recognize that it is very difficult work, so it would surprise me if the government benefits from extending the negotiation,” he said.
The FIQ, which is awaiting a response to its latest proposal, has put aside the threat of going on strike during the media truce announced Friday.
With negotiations with the FIQ likely to extend to January 2024, Mr. Legault still has a few days to decide how many blue Labatts he will offer.