This text is part of the special section Unionism
A few days from the 1er May, a date commemorating “the workers’ struggle”, Caroline Senneville, president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), maintains that, although there have been enormous gains in workers’ rights in recent decades, the union fight nonetheless remains relevant and necessary.
“There are many things in the world of work that we take for granted and which are the subject of struggles,” maintains Mme Senneville, at the head of the union organization protecting the rights of more than 330,000 workers mainly from Quebec, but also from the rest of Canada.
Maternity leave, laws surrounding sexual and psychological harassment in the workplace and paid vacation are the few examples named by the president. The right to associate is another, according to Caroline Senneville. “I’m taking the example of the federal anti-scab bill. […] All is not won because it is not easy to change mentalities,” she emphasizes. Tabled last November, Bill C-58, if adopted, would prohibit the use of replacement workers in the event of a strike or lockout. In Quebec, a law has existed to this effect since 1977.
Many-sided battle
1er May is also synonymous with an increase in the minimum wage in Quebec. In the province, it stands at $15.25 per hour, and will increase to $15.75. Due to the current economic context, the CSN has reviewed its position in this regard and is demanding a higher minimum wage, explains Caroline Senneville. “For us, it would be $20 an hour, because of the inflation we have experienced, particularly that of basic needs. I think about food and housing. At $15.75, the person who works full time is someone who works without covering their basic needs,” she worries. “It is not normal in Quebec that a person working full time cannot cover their basic needs,” adds the president.
Health is another issue that the CSN is tackling. With the Dubé reform, which reviews the governance of the health and social services network by creating an agency called Santé Québec to improve its efficiency, Mme Senneville is particularly concerned about the “privatization” of the system. The effects, according to her? “It’s a loss of access to care, it’s a two-tier medicine, it’s a weakened public service. The private sector takes care of what is simple, easy and profitable. There are things that should not be managed by profits, notably illness,” believes Caroline Senneville.
Union strength
Where does the tradition of underlining the 1 come from?er may ? At the end of the 19th centurye century, more precisely the 1er May 1886, a general strike movement broke out in various American cities, including Chicago, demanding an eight-hour day. “The organizers will be harshly repressed,” continues the president of the CSN. In Quebec, the first demonstration in this vein will take place 20 years later, on 1er May 1906. “On 1er May, it’s really to highlight the workers’ struggle,” summarizes Mme Senneville. The province’s unions took up the torch in 1972.
According to Mme Senneville, trade unionism in Quebec is “a living force of the Nation”, even if, sometimes, its reason for being is called into question. “We can criticize the action of certain unions, but the existence of unionism is protected by charters. Then, I would say that this is what distinguishes more democratic societies from others,” believes the president of the CSN. “If there is no union, there is no place, as a worker, where you can meet. […] It’s a democratic process,” she explains.
For the current year, what will be the fields of action of the CSN? “We will work hard in our collective agreements to ask for salary increases. Then, the deprivatization of the health system and the housing crisis will certainly be issues on which we will work,” explains M.me Senneville.
Fighting daily for workers’ rights remains essential, notes the president of the CSN. “If we don’t do it, there’s no one else who will. […] The voice of workers must be heard. And it is better when it is collective,” underlines Caroline Senneville.
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