The Central Trade Unions of Quebec (CSQ), the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN) and the Federation of Workers of Quebec (FTQ) call for the opening of a social dialogue, the day after the victory of the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ).
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“We reiterate that many issues that affect our members were not addressed during this election campaign and remain unresolved,” CSQ president Éric Gingras said in a statement.
The trade union center believes that over the next few months, a lot of work awaits the trade unions in the field of education, health, higher education and early childhood.
The composition of the next government will provide information on the CAQ’s intentions in terms of social dialogue in a context of labor shortages which is raising immense challenges in the workplace.
“Social dialogue is the way to go and this is the call we are making to the government of François Legault, especially at the dawn of the public sector negotiations which will begin this fall,” indicated Mr. Gingras.
“There is no reason to relive the psychodramas of past negotiations. Social dialogue is very concrete for us and it must also be reflected at the negotiation tables, ”he added.
Voting system reform
For its part, the FTQ decries the voting system it wants to see reformed and invites the CAQ to be more humble, since the elections have raised a “serious problem” of democratic representation.
“This reminds us of the importance of quickly reforming the voting system, which has already been the subject of a promise reneged on by the Coalition avenir Québec,” mentioned the president of the FTQ, Daniel Boyer.
“The CAQ must be sufficiently open-minded to engage in genuine social dialogue with civil society, including workers’ representatives,” it was added.
Same story on the side of the CSN which believes that the Legault government was elected with “a modest rate if we compare it to the number of seats obtained”.
“Most of the mess during the CAQ’s first term was the result of a disconnect between decision-makers and the daily reality of the majority of the population. We will not be content with a government that wants to ”continue”. Continue with disruptions in health services? Schools without staff? Dilapidated hospitals and schools, nursing, teaching and support staff in a more than worrying state? declared Caroline Senneville, President of the CSN.
According to the CSN, the priority of the new government should be to restore the public networks “which have been abused for too long”. Education must also become “an absolute priority” and the environment “a key issue”.