The Legault government is asking for more “flexibility” from unions in possible collective agreements. For the Common Front, what does this government request represent?
• Read also: Public sector strikes: tie your hats!
• Read also: Paralyzed school environment: the Common Front evokes the unlimited general strike
• Read also: Here is the final offer that the Common Front will not be able to refuse
The first vice-president of the CSN took stock of the state of negotiations while 420,000 Common Front union members are on strike from December 8 to 14.
Marcel Tremblay / QMI Agency
Francois Enault notes an acceleration of negotiations due to the arrival of the conciliator, despite the dispute which persists over flexibility between the workers and the employer.
The latter also offered his vision on a term pronounced many times by François Legault and Sonia LeBel: flexibility.
“When we hear the word flexibility on the part of the government, it means assuming more powers, repatriating its management rights that it has given over the years, and that is out of the question,” he says.
TVA News
Mr. Enault gives the example of moving workers from one establishment to another.
“It’s not true that we are going to impose the government’s solution on us,” he adds, in an interview on LCN.
Given that the public network has an attraction and retention problem, the government’s proposal could make the situation worse, he believes.
“It’s clear that people won’t want that, then they’ll go work elsewhere with better salaries. I think the government’s idea is not good at the moment, but we are ready to look at solutions with it,” says François Enault, who hopes for an agreement by Christmas.