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, which represents civil servants employed by various Quebec ministries.
“There have already been strike mandates given in the past; I would have to go back to the 1980s, perhaps, if there was a mandate for an unlimited general strike,” admitted the general president of the SFPQ, Christian Daigle, in an interview on Monday.
These 27,000 members of the SFPQ civil servant unit will be called upon to decide on this mandate from mid-May to mid-June.
To avoid being taken by surprise when making a decision, the SFPQ prepared: several months ago, it established a special contribution to constitute a strike fund. An amount of approximately $10 million has already been raised in this fund, Mr. Daigle said.
How did the SFPQ get to this stage? “We are tired of being treated like second-rate employees, that health and education come before us, that health and education manage to reach agreements in principle quickly, because we give them a priority , and that we, afterwards, remain hungry, then we do not have any serious feedback from the employer on our requests which, however, do not necessarily have big monetary impacts for 27,000 people,” replies 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.
It was the delegates of a body, on Friday, who judged that it was better to consult the 27,000 members on a mandate for heavier pressure tactics which could lead to an indefinite strike.
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 in April.
Mr. Daigle reports that his unit of 27,000 civil servants is still offered a 12.7% increase over five years, while the inter-union common front has settled for 17.4% over five years.
In the case of the SFPQ, the question of teleworking is also in dispute, as is access to promotions.
The SFPQ had already requested mediation; this one runs until May 19. This is a sort of obligatory step before obtaining the right to strike.