After the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), it is the turn of the inter-union common front of the public sector to reject the offers of Quebec for the renewal of the collective agreements.
The common front is made up of the CSN (Confederation of National Trade Unions), the CSQ (Central Trade Unions of Quebec), the FTQ (Federation of Quebec Workers) and the APTS (Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel health and social services), which together represent some 420,000 workers in the public and parapublic sectors.
Each of the organizations that make up the common front unanimously rejected the government offer in its respective body, it was said on Wednesday.
Last week, it was the FIQ, which represents the vast majority of nurses, nursing assistants and other healthcare professionals, who rejected the offer from Quebec. This union represents 80,000 members.
Increases, inflation and conditions
Quebec offered wage increases of 9% over five years, plus a lump sum of $1,000, plus an amount equivalent to 2.5% reserved for “government priorities”. The government thus claims to present an offer equivalent to 13% over five years.
The common front is asking for a $100 per week increase or the consumer price index (CPI) plus 2% for the first year of the employment contracts — whichever formula is most advantageous for the workers — and then the CPI plus 3% for the second year and the CPI plus 4% for the third.
The common front affirms that Quebec “offers neither more nor less than an impoverishment to the workers by presenting them with salary increases that do not even cover the cost of living”.
He points out that there is a “historic labor shortage” in several sectors, not only in health, but also in education.
To attract workers, or even retain them, it will be necessary to improve their working conditions and their conditions of exercise, argued the common front.
For her part, the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, had defended her offer, during her presentation on December 15, as one that “is up to the expected inflation”.
Minister LeBel had also reminded us that we must review the organization of work, which poses a problem, particularly in the field of health.
Quebec had also proposed the formation of discussion forums, in the fields of education and care, which the labor organizations rejected, affirming that the problems were known and that it was the solutions that should now be tackled.
Negotiations at the central table should begin shortly. This is where salaries, the pension plan, group insurance, parental rights and regional disparities are negotiated, in other words issues that concern all sectors.
Collective agreements in the public and parapublic sectors will expire on March 31.