After weeks of negotiations, the Inter-union Common Front finally reached an agreement with Quebec, both on the working conditions and the salaries of its members. Meanwhile, uncertainty persists regarding the return to class of students on January 8, while, for its part, the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) continues its discussions with the government through a conciliator. State of play in four key questions.
Where are the negotiations between the State and the Inter-Union Common Front?
The four major unions constituting the Common Front announced that they had agreed on Thursday on a proposed agreement in principle which will establish the salary conditions of the 420,000 public sector employees represented by the union grouping. An announcement which comes after all the member unions concluded in the last few days possible agreements in principle at the sectoral tables, regarding the working conditions of their members.
“We are heading in the right direction to reach a collective agreement with the State,” notes trade unionist Réjean Parent, who chaired the Centrale des syndicats du Québec from June 2003 to June 2012. “But there is still work to do. »
This proposed agreement must now be submitted to the union delegations concerned, who will have to decide whether it constitutes an agreement in principle in due form. The members of the Common Front will then be called upon to vote at a general assembly to decide whether or not they ratify this agreement, the details of which have not yet been made public.
“We have just ruled out for all practical purposes the possibility of an unlimited general strike” at the start of 2024, notes for his part in an interview the former president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions Jacques Létourneau, who sees in this proposal agree “excellent news”.
Where are the negotiations involving the FAE and the FIQ?
The Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), which represents 66,500 teachers who serve the island of Montreal, its suburbs as well as the Quebec region, confirmed Wednesday evening that it had established a global settlement proposal with the government. This was presented Thursday morning to the nine affiliated unions members of a Federal Negotiating Council, who must decide whether this proposal can be qualified as an agreement in principle.
“We will leave it to our authority to determine whether this is an agreement in principle that meets the pressing needs of teachers and their students. The 66,500 members of the FAE have just spent 22 days in the streets, without pay, to make themselves heard. We will respect our democratic processes before expressing ourselves further,” declared the president of the FAE, Mélanie Hubert, in a press release. For the moment, the strike is therefore maintained and will only be suspended if the members of the FAE vote to end the strike.
The Quebec Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ), for its part, continues to negotiate with the Quebec government with the help of a conciliator. It was not possible Thursday to know the status of these discussions. “All we can say is that discussions are continuing with the conciliator and the employer side,” said the Duty union advisor Floriane Bonneville.
Will students return to school on January 8?
If the FAE member unions endorse the proposed agreement with the government, the strike in progress since November 23 could then end. This would then imply that primary and secondary school students affected by this strike could return to class from January 8, at the end of the Christmas holidays.
According to our information, a vote in this matter was planned for the evening of Thursday. The members of the FAE will subsequently have to ratify this agreement within the framework of general assemblies which will take place upon returning from the holiday holidays, the union federation announced Wednesday evening.
“In my opinion, all students will return to class on January 8,” says trade unionist Réjean Parent, optimistically.
What does it actually mean when we announce that the unions and the government are “getting along”?
At the end of intensive negotiations, many member unions of the Common Front, as well as the FAE which is not part of it, agreed to possible agreements. The details of these are unknown and confidential at this stage, but we can deduce that both the union side and the government made compromises in order to reach these agreements. “There is never one party or another who concedes everything,” explains Jacques Létourneau.
It will now be necessary to see if these agreements are to the satisfaction of the members of the various unions concerned. One thing is certain, “it is a negotiation which inevitably must be concluded”, continues the trade unionist.