(Montreal) Whether it is the management of the COVID-19 pandemic or the negotiation of collective agreements, it suits the Legault government to take the unions as scapegoats and to “put them in a small box of complaining unions, ”laments the president of the CSQ, Éric Gingras.
As part of his annual press conference for the start of the school year in January, the president of the Centrale des unions du Québec criticized the Legault government for making unions accountable when its measures to attract staff have had mixed success, for example. , or when negotiations drag on in the public sector or in childcare centers.
At the time when the government had considered making vaccination compulsory for health workers, on pain of suspension without pay, unions asked it to postpone the deadline, fearing breakdowns in service due to a lack of staff.
Some had then criticized the unions for opposing the vaccination against COVID-19.
The union leader sees double standards, because today, it is the manufacturing industry and that of the trucking which require a similar delay to require the vaccination of their workers, because they find themselves in front of a shortage of personnel. .
Will the government now accuse the trucking companies of being against vaccination? Mr. Gingras asks, with a hint of sarcasm.
“We preferred to blame us,” denounces the president of the CSQ.
Common front possible in 2022
Moreover, while the negotiation of the 2020-2023 collective agreements in the public sector has just ended, it will have to start again soon, under the rules in force.
The unions will have to submit their new demands in October or November 2022 and the government will have to submit its offers soon after. Then the negotiations will start again for the 2023-2026 agreements.
Despite the 2020-2023 negotiations without a common inter-union front, which lasted a year and a half, and which led to differentiated increases to favor certain job titles, Mr. Gingras still believes in the constitution of a common front for 2022 .
“The answer is yes, the common front is still possible. We will see what 2022 has in store for us on this. And as regards the differentiated increases, I would tell you that our members are not necessarily against that, but against the fact that the government alone decides who will get the biggest part, ”explained Mr. Gingras.
The fact remains that the CSQ is tired of the “psychodrama” of these long negotiations which mobilize a lot of energy, admits Mr. Gingras. He wonders why the government “waits until the end” to table more generous offers.
The CSQ represents 200,000 members, mainly in education and daycare services, but also in health.