To all employers in Quebec,
The COVID-19 pandemic will not only have worsened the labor shortage, which is not new; above all, it will have affected women more severely than men, and further widened the inequality gap. This is even more glaring for women who are marginalized or located at the intersection of different oppressions, and for those in precarious, non-union, part-time or low-paid jobs. These thousands of workers remain a blind spot in the economic recovery plan in Quebec.
The labor shortage has grown to such an extent that we are now talking about a crisis. There is even an imbalance in several sectors of the future, for example information technology, metallurgy and transport, with the abolition and merging of positions, mostly male, that have remained vacant for too long.
Emergency
Faced with the urgency of the situation, it is necessary to wonder – what are we waiting for to strengthen and ensure the place of women on the economic spectrum of Quebec? Our government has certainly put some interesting measures in place; but these will remain largely insufficient as long as employers do not adapt their practices to the realities and priorities of women workers.
Possible solutions
In addition, several key players, including the Conseil du patronat du Québec, have put forward possible solutions that we welcome, but which do not take into account the specific needs of female workers. Many of them face persistent barriers that demonstrate systemic discrimination against women. Pay inequity, the absence of family-work reconciliation measures and harassment, among others, repel more than one or hinder their integration or their retention in employment.
The companies that have the best chance of escaping the costly consequences of labor shortages are those that will offer women workers winning conditions, tailored to their needs. This necessarily requires a change in culture and practices, particularly in predominantly male employment sectors.
Women are part of the solution to the labor shortage in all sectors of recovery and the future, and we ask the government and employers of Quebec to take this into account now.
Signatories:
Intervention council for women’s access to work, supported by the Group of 13, a coalition of 21 groups, regroupings and tables of women’s groups working at the provincial and regional level to defend women’s rights, as well as by :
Access-Work-Women
Central of Democratic Unions of Quebec
Central of Quebec unions
Center for labor market integration
Lanaudière Professional Integration Center
James Bay Status of Women Committee
Confederation of National Trade Unions
Women Resources Employment Connection
From oneself to employment
Work Dimension
Le Pont – Women’s Employment Center
Option Women
Unlimited options
Partance, employment center for women
New Perspectives and La CLEF
Employment district, COFFRE and Right to employment
Regrouping Respected Births
Integrated Services for Employment