Quebec state engineers went on strike on April 22 to renew a collective agreement that expired in April 2020. An engineer in the public service starts with an annual salary of $42,900 per year. He can expect a career maximum annual compensation of $94,078. Overall, the salaries offered do not encourage young engineers to choose the civil service. Moreover, once hired, many of them do not stay there. This salary structure is the main issue of the aforementioned strike.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
The 1,500 engineers involved are spread over 14 ministries, but more than three-quarters of them work in Transport (68%) and the Environment (17%). The Report of a joint committee tabled in 2019, under the chairmanship of former Court of Appeal judge PA Gendreau, specifies that “the intervention of engineers is…essential in all engineering sectors for the design and the construction of works, for the development and application of standards that ensure the safety and protection of the public and the integrity of State assets”. The aforementioned report recommended, among other things, that engineers be involved in all phases of the implementation of projects entrusted by the State to the private sector, which is not currently the case.
Unlike other professional categories, engineers do not occupy dominant roles in Quebec political bodies. In labor relations, this is not without effect. For example, the Dr Gaétan Barrette, formerly president of the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec, now Minister of Health, has regulated the working conditions of Quebec doctors until 2026. Lawyer Sonia LeBel, who recently became president of the Treasury Board, comes to reach an agreement in principle which resolves a persistent disagreement with the Association of Lawyers and Notaries of the State of Quebec.
It is as if the mutual corporatist belonging, between trade unionists and leaders in the public service, had the effect of a magic wand encouraging the parties to agree.
In this, the engineers of the State of Quebec remain on the floor for lack of an influential engineer likely to support them on the political level.
Basically, the above is disappointing for job categories that are excluded from agreements or bonuses awarded here and there. Indeed, all groups of public service employees must be able to count on the impartiality of their government, like a good parent towards his children. Distributive equity between the various employment groups in the public service will probably be an unavoidable issue during the next round of negotiations between the recent union common front and the Quebec government.
That the state deprives itself of engineers or refuses to use their full potential is not without consequences. More than 400 bridges are said to be in disrepair. That the contracts are awarded to the private sector goes without saying, because competent engineers are there. However, when it comes to choosing between repairing a structure and completely redoing it, some subcontractors may be inclined to value the option giving them a more generous contract. This is where state engineers can make a cost difference. They may choose to repair a structure instead of replacing it. But this is not done, because the state control of the work entrusted to the contractors is insufficient.
In addition, State engineers would not have access to the usual technical means to intervene on ongoing projects.
Overall, Quebec does not sufficiently value its genius. Thus, engineers sometimes become victims of deplorable situations. For example, the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the awarding and management of public contracts in the construction industry chaired by Judge France Charbonneau, made public in 2015, rightly denounced a context of corruption. Engineers found themselves victims of corrupt municipal elites and mafia entrepreneurs. The image of a part of our genius was thus damaged. Finally, the historical isolation between state engineers and politicians has had the effect, over time, of distancing Quebecers from engineering.
State engineers can be better recognized. Consequently, the social actors must indulge in negotiation based on their common interests and the resolution of problems. As for the agreement in principle reached on February 13, 2022 between the Treasury Board and the Association of State Lawyers and Notaries, it could perhaps serve as a way out to settle the labor dispute between the government of Quebec and its engineers. In any case, politicians must act in such a way that genius becomes more of a source of inspiration, especially for young Quebecers. Quebec’s technological future depends on it.