(Montreal) Several hundred Quebec legal aid lawyers will begin a two-day strike on Monday after the Treasury Board denied them pay parity with Crown prosecutors.
Posted at 5:31 p.m.
Strike pickets are planned in several cities of the province. The strikers also plan to demonstrate in front of the county offices of several ministers, including that of Sonia Lebel in Trois-Rivières and Simon Jolin-Barette in Beloeil.
A demonstration is also on the program in front of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Two weeks ago, these approximately 200 legal aid lawyers who are members of unions affiliated with the CSN were on strike for half a day. They are calling for pay parity with criminal and penal prosecuting attorneys. The work stoppage affected the regions of Montreal, Laval, Laurentides, Lanaudière, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie.
Prosecutors won 10% increases over four years starting in 2020.
The president of the Union of Legal Aid Lawyers of Montreal and Laval, Justine Lambert-Boulianne, deplores the underfunding of the legal aid system in Quebec.
She adds that legal aid suffers from a shortage of manpower, with young lawyers preferring to become prosecutors because of the better salary.
Me Lambert-Boulianne cannot say how many cases will be delayed because of the strike. However, the impact is expected to be significant, as legal aid lawyers are required in most courthouses across the province.
However, about 15 lawyers will continue to work on high-priority cases that cannot be postponed, such as those involving young people or sexual violence.
“For us, it’s a matter of basic justice. Why should people who sue people be paid more than those who defend them? »
Other lawyers, members of the Quebec Federation of Legal Aid Lawyers, are expected to stop work on Wednesday and Thursday.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.