Without an agreement with Quebec for the renewal of their collective agreement, legal aid lawyers in Montreal and Laval will exercise their right to strike in the coming days.
The Union of Legal Aid Lawyers of Montreal and Laval, affiliated with the CSN, has announced that the right to strike will be exercised from Friday until December 27.
This pressure tactic will affect all of the activities of the Commission des services juridiques since legal aid on-call and video-appearance services for all of Quebec are provided by lawyers in the Montreal region during statutory holidays, explains the union.
He mentions that the employer tried to prevent any form of pressure tactics during the holiday season by going to the Administrative Labor Tribunal.
He then changed his mind to instead impose working hours for the upcoming public holidays, threatening disciplinary action for any lawyer who would be unavailable, denounces the union.
“We refuse to give free rein to such intimidation towards the lawyers we represent,” reacted the president of the Union of lawyers and lawyers for legal aid of Montreal and Laval-CSN, Ms.e Justine Lambert-Boulianne in a statement.
The union leader deplores the attitude of Quebec towards the front line actors of the judicial system.
“In the context of the crisis that the justice system is currently experiencing, it is surprising that the management party and the Treasury Board do not choose instead to settle, for good, the file of legal aid lawyers by maintaining the working conditions that they have acquired and renewed for more than 30 years,” she maintains.
The main point in dispute in the negotiations is the principle of pay equity with Crown prosecutors.
Legal aid lawyers want the same salary increases as their colleagues, but the government would stick to its offer with lower increases.
Over the past few months, members of the legal aid lawyers’ unions affiliated with the CSN have walked off the job a few times.