The Common Front plans to return to the negotiating table on Wednesday, after a day of talks which did not result in an agreement with the government the day before.
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The two parties resumed negotiations on Tuesday, after a break for Christmas, due to lack of agreement before that date.
However, they seemed close to the goal when the discussions were suspended at the end of the day on Sunday, on the eve of Christmas, to offer a little rest to the troops, in the middle of a blitz of negotiations.
The four union centers that make up the Common Front are now negotiating at the central table on the question of wages.
At the end of the day on Sunday, the unions had reached compromises one after the other at the sectoral tables on the working conditions specific to each profession, both in the education and health sectors.
So, almost all of them have “settlement hypotheses” on the table. They will have to be presented to delegates before we can talk about agreements in principle.
“It’s major”
“It’s major. What this means clearly is that at the level of the work organization, the flexibility that the government was looking for, there are compromises that have been made,” commented Marc Ranger, former Quebec director of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
However, he emphasizes that union members will have to vote based on agreements that will include a whole: salaries and working conditions.
“Hit or miss. For the unions, there is pressure to see if the result to be reached as a compromise will be satisfactory for the members,” believes the ex-unionist.
The Common Front threatens to launch an indefinite general strike if no agreement is reached by the start of the year. Its 420,000 members have walked off the job for 11 days since the beginning of November.
FAE: an “obligation of result”
Pressure is mounting on the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), which also resumed discussions with the government on Tuesday.
“The FAE has an obligation to achieve results. We cannot think that the strike will resume on January 2 and 3,” believes Mr. Ranger.
No sectoral progress has been announced since the start of the blitz of negotiations on Friday.
“Negotiations continue,” the Federation stated laconically on its Facebook page at the end of the day on Sunday.
On an indefinite general strike since November 23, its 66,500 members – the vast majority teachers – have walked off the job for a total of 22 days. They don’t have a strike fund.
FIQ: “It’s going to be difficult”
The Quebec Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ) was also due to return to the negotiating table on Tuesday.
After months of talks, there is still no rapprochement between the largest nurses’ union and the Legault government.
The government’s latest offer amounts to a salary increase of 12.7% over five years, far from the 20% over four years demanded by the FIQ.
Mr. Ranger believes that the conciliator appointed by Quebec could “help the parties get closer.” “It’s going to be difficult, he won’t have the easy part,” he warns, however.
The 80,000 members of the FIQ completed three strike blocks, from December 11 to 14 as well as November 9, 10, 23 and 24.
-With VAT News