The president of the Quebec Federation of Workers (FTQ), Magali Picard, said she was “very proud” of the agreement in principle negotiated with Quebec, which she describes as “sustainable”, at the dawn of vote of its members. However, it did not fail to criticize the Legault government, which “abandoned”, in its words, “a large part” of Quebecers in the face of the cost of living crisis.
“I am hard on the government of François Legault, but I think I reflect what the population thinks,” said Mme Picard, criticizing the lack of “structuring measures to deal with the housing crisis, for the grocery basket, the minimum wage”.
Accompanied by the secretary general of the FTQ, Denis Bolduc, she was present at a press briefing on Tuesday to take stock of the year that has just passed and draw up a list of future issues. “The government itself recognizes that it needs a compass, because it seems to have lost its way,” said Mr.me Picard.
“Progress” on all points
As the vote on the agreement in principle approaches, the president of the FTQ and spokesperson for the Common Front said she was “very comfortable” and “very proud of what was negotiated,” in a context of negotiations which she described as “extremely difficult”, “both for the teams at the central table and for all the sectoral parties”.
She believes that “advances” have been obtained “in everything that had been asked of us by the workers of the Quebec state”, and she is now relying on the vote of the members. The 420,000 workers of the Common Front — the inter-union grouping which includes the CSN, the CSQ, the FTQ and the APTS — will be able to vote by secret ballot on salary and sectoral offers during general assemblies which will be held from January 15 to February 19.
“This is our test. It’s about seeing: have we understood correctly? Were expectations met? » underlined Mme Picard, feverish.
In response to those disappointed with the agreement, she reiterated that what is being debated publicly at the moment is only “the agreement at the central table”, but that “we must wait until we have the presentation overall to get a real idea”, particularly in terms of “the conditions of employment”.
On the other hand, reacting to criticism that the increases granted by the government are too generous, Mme Picard affirmed that this agreement was “sustainable” and that we “cannot continue to negotiate employment contracts that are below the cost of living.”
Concerns related to health reform
Furthermore, the establishment of the Agence Santé Québec is one of the issues that “greatly concerns” the FTQ, underlined its president.
“We have another health reform which seems to want to centralize or, in any case, which will centralize more. Are we worried? The answer is yes. Are we committed to working with the Minister of Health? The answer is also yes,” said Mme Picard, reiterating that “the status quo [en santé] was not possible.”
The union leader indicated that she had “a lot of hope” that the “conditions of employment and salaries” should help “reattract people into our public networks” if the agreement in principle is adopted.
That being said, she urges the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, to “stay tuned”, given that this type of reform “brings a lot of stress” for workers.
Another concern in this area: the FTQ fears that the reform will lead to greater privatization of health services. “It would be extremely damaging for the middle class and the less well off if we moved forward with greater privatization,” argued Mr.me Picard.
The FTQ “will not remain silent” against Poilievre
Looking ahead to future federal issues, the president of the FTQ also warned against “the charm campaign” of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose popularity is rising in the polls.
“Let me tell you that the FTQ will not remain silent in the face of the plan [de M. Poilievre] “, said Magali Picard, adding that the Federation would be “very active” during the next federal electoral campaign, which is currently not scheduled before 2025, unless an early start.
“He’s a very good communicator, so he knows how to address our world,” admitted M.me Picard. He has a new image. He wants to seem like the good guy. That being said, he is a man who has a philosophy that is very far from our values. He is a man who believes in right-to-work », an anti-union movement that we are currently seeing in several Republican American states, she mentioned.