The 27,000 civil servants who are members of the Quebec Public and Parapublic Service Union (SFPQ) will be called upon to decide on a mandate for heavy pressure tactics that could go as far as an indefinite strike.
This is an extremely rare occurrence for this large independent union of civil servants, which has until now resorted to light pressure tactics.
These 27,000 members of the SFPQ will be called upon to decide on this mandate from mid-May to mid-June, Christian Daigle, general president of the SFPQ, said in an interview on Monday.
The SFPQ has been preparing for a long time: several months ago it established a special contribution to constitute a strike fund. A sum of approximately 10 million has already been raised in this fund, said Mr. Daigle.
The SFPQ had undertaken a “negotiation blitz” with the Treasury Board, but withdrew last Tuesday evening, given the lack of progress – without definitively breaking off the talks, Mr. Daigle is careful to point out. The union says it is now waiting for news from the Treasury Board.
The other major bargaining unit of the SFPQ, that of the 4,000 workers, however, reached an agreement in principle and it was ratified by the members.