The Common Front finally came to an agreement with the government on wages on Thursday, a few days after a major release at the so-called “sectoral” tables.
“In terms of wages, the objectives of the Common Front were based on two key principles: protecting our 420,000 workers against inflation and obtaining a certain general catch-up in wages for all workers. And that’s what guided us throughout this blitz negotiation to reach a proposed agreement”, explained the spokespersons of the Common Front François Enault, first vice-president of the CSN, Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, Magali Picard, president of the FTQ and Robert Comeau , president of the APTS.
The four federations indicate that they will convene their delegations in the coming days in order to present to them the content of the proposed agreements reached at the central table and at each of the sectoral tables “in order to determine whether or not they constitute a global agreement in principle”.
According to our information, these meetings with the delegates should take place at the beginning of January.
Members will then be called upon to vote at a general meeting to ratify it. “This round of negotiations will be officially settled when the working and practice conditions as well as the salary conditions are deemed satisfactory,” specify the spokespersons for the Common Front.
A question of time
This was a question before an agreement was announced at the so-called “central” table where the Common Front negotiated the salary aspects of the next employment contract for public sector employees on behalf of the four federations it represents (CSN, CSQ , FTQ, APTS).
In fact, all the member unions of these federations had concluded agreements with the government, in recent days, at so-called “sectoral” tables, where the working conditions specific to each trade are negotiated.
The Common Front recently recalled that without a satisfactory agreement by the end of the year at the central table, its 420,000 members could trigger an unlimited general strike in 2024. They have already walked out for 11 days in the fall, in three episodes (one day, then three, and finally seven).
The government and the Common Front had both reiterated before Christmas their objective of reaching an agreement by December 25. However, the parties finally adjourned the negotiations at the last minute on the evening of the 24th.
Remote positions
The content of this agreement on salaries has remained confidential until now, with the Common Front preferring that its members be the first to be informed.
The latest news was that the group said it was ready to sign five-year collective agreements, but was no longer quantifying its demands. They were initially around 23% increases in three years.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The launch, after the Holidays, of an unlimited general strike by the Common Front now seems improbable.
“We did not quantify these requests, we rather indicated to the government that our opening was linked to two conditions, namely: that it guarantees the protection of purchasing power and that it leads to enrichment. This has not been quantified in order to leave room for negotiation at the table,” declared the Common Front before Christmas.
Quebec, for its part, had sent the signal that it was ready to increase its last offer of salary increases by 12.7% in five years. For the same period, the Common Front had recently demanded an indexation clause of 18.1% to cover the rise in the cost of living and an increase of 7% – instead of 9% – as “enrichment” . He has questioned the 7% increase since then.
The Common Front also repeated that “to conclude an agreement at the central table, there will have to be progress” regarding insurance and specialized workers, “as well as regarding working conditions at the different sectoral tables” .