Quebec City blue-collar workers will begin another round of strike action on Tuesday night. This time, the walkout is expected to last six days.
The Syndicat des employées manuels de la Ville de Québec, which represents 1,386 members, has announced a walkout that will take place from 3 a.m. on July 10 until 11:59 p.m. on July 15.
There will be more essential services maintained than during the previous three-day walkout that took place in June. The employer and the union reached an agreement on this in conciliation. And the Administrative Labour Tribunal “considers that the essential services proposed in the agreement are sufficient to prevent public health or safety from being endangered.”
“Although this strike is longer than the previous one, it remains short-lived, lasting six days and taking place during the summer period. In addition, the parties have reached an agreement providing for the maintenance of additional services in addition to those deemed sufficient by the Tribunal on June 17,” writes the Administrative Labour Tribunal.
“For example, the continuation of garbage collection, which was then limited to critical customers, namely retirement homes, long-term care centres and hospitals, is extended to the collection of putrescible waste from industries, food markets and restaurants,” the Court specifies.
The main points of dispute are salaries and work-life balance, indicates the local section of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ.
The union claims that “some manual workers in Quebec City are $5 an hour behind compared to similar positions in the City of Lévis.”
Negotiations between the parties have not broken off. The collective agreement expired on December 31, 2023.
These union members had voted 98% in favor of a mandate for pressure tactics that could go as far as a strike, last March. They had also voted in favor of a special contribution to finance their mobilization.
Quebec City employs 7,532 unionized employees, 539 managers, 86 non-unionized employees and serves a population of approximately 550,000 people. The Quebec City Manual Employees Union has 1,386 blue-collar employees.