(Montreal) While meeting Finance Minister Eric Girard on Monday as part of his pre-budget consultations, the labor centers invited him to prioritize the government’s “main missions” rather than its financial objectives.
Posted at 2:20 p.m.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how fragile the health network was, due to lack of personnel, aggravated by years of budgetary restrictions, recall the FTQ, the CSN, the CSQ and the CSD, in their joint release for this meeting with Minister Girard.
And the education network has also been shaken, because it too is understaffed and has suffered the consequences of outdated, poorly equipped, poorly ventilated schools, recalled the president of the Centrale des unions du Québec, Éric Gingras, in interview Monday.
Beyond the temporary bonuses which were decided unilaterally by Quebec to compensate for the urgent lack of workers, during the pandemic, the four union centers invite to a real “social dialogue” to find how to attract staff and retain it.
And no, “it doesn’t just go through salaries,” says Mr. Gingras. It also involves better working conditions “and the recognition of staff in health, education and childcare services,” he insisted.
“In recent years, we have put in different places, kinds of “plasters” to solve short-term problems of shortage, attraction, retention of workers. This is true in public services; this is also true in the private sector. Now, we will have to perpetuate this with a plan for the next few years, ”argued the trade unionist.
In the private sector, the Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, has introduced a range of programs to help workers and businesses, among others in sectors such as construction, information technology, digital and green transition. . Several measures affect work-study, training and requalification.
But other industries hit hard by the pandemic are still suffering, recall the four centrals, citing the hotel industry, culture, transport, catering. We still need to support them.
The four centrals also invite him to put the soft pedal on the payment of sums to the Generations Fund, as well as on the comparisons regarding the wealth gap with Ontario.
“Since Québec’s public finances have improved a great deal in recent years and the recovery will essentially depend on fiscal and budgetary policies, the government must not hesitate to run up more debt, if necessary, in order to get out of the crisis, finance economic recovery and avoid a return to budgetary austerity”, plead the FTQ, the CSN, the CSQ and the CSD.