(Québec) En grève jusqu’au 14 décembre, le front commun a soumis une contre-offre salariale au gouvernement Legault. Les parties devraient se réunir à la table centrale de négociation à 13 h.
Entourés de grévistes qui manifestaient autour du parlement, les chefs syndicaux du front commun ont donné peu de détails sur leur nouvelle proposition lors d’une mêlée de presse vendredi.
Ils se sont contentés de dire que le front commun est prêt à signer des conventions collectives d’une durée de plus de trois ans. Quant à la demande d’augmentations salariales, on décode un peu de mouvement.
Le vice-président de la CSN, François Enault, a soutenu que le front commun veut protéger le pouvoir d’achat de ses 420 000 membres et combler l’écart identifié par un rapport de l’Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) entre les salariés de l’administration publique québécoise et les autres.
« On a un rattrapage [à faire], you know it, you have seen the ISQ. We are talking about 7% in total remuneration, plus the indexation clause. This is what we are asking,” he said.
The common front’s initial demand, over three years, included a 9% increase for catch-up, in addition to an increase linked to the consumer price index – the “indexation clause”, for a total about 23%. It must be understood that the common front insists that we use the 2022 CPI – very high – while the government wants to take into account inflation only from 2023, the first year of the next employment contracts.
On Thursday, Prime Minister François Legault said he was ready to improve his new offer of salary increases of 12.7% in five years, presented on Wednesday.
The president of the FTQ, Magali Picard, deplored that the government has not yet responded to the union submission made Thursday. The central table is due to meet at 1 p.m. Friday, but the government has not formally confirmed its presence according to her.
At the sectoral tables, the progress of the negotiations is “variable geometry”, estimates the president of the CSQ, Éric Gingras. We will have to accelerate the pace to achieve a result. Mediators will try to move talks forward more quickly when they meet at select tables this weekend. According to François Enault, we are still far from the moment of a summit meeting with Prime Minister François Legault to settle employment contracts due to the state of discussions at sectoral tables.
The common front says it is ready to settle negotiations before the holidays. Its bodies will meet on December 18 and 19 to take stock, an opportunity according to them to ratify a possible agreement. Failing an agreement, an indefinite general strike could be called early next year.
“This is the longest strike the public sector has seen in 50 years. And that, unfortunately, the Legautl government will have to put that in its balance sheet,” said the president of the APTS, Robert Comeau.