We have now entered the home stretch of negotiating the working conditions of 650,000 public sector employees. The specter of a “hot autumn”, an expression used to evoke a Quebec placed under lockdown and disrupted by the pressure tactics of disgruntled workers, is very concrete. This week, the Common Front gave a glimpse of what November could look like, with strike action announced for the end of the month. FIQ nurses are picketing two days this week. The Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) gets straight to business and announces an indefinite general strike on November 23 if nothing satisfactory falls from the sky by then.
In this chapter of intensified trade, where workers fight for higher wages and better working conditions, who holds the balance of power? In this first week of the strike, it is easy to see that public opinion is leaning in favor of state workers. Quebecers are sensitive to their demands for more than one reason: first, the vibrant plea on the importance of purchasing power does not leave them indifferent, because the vast majority feel this demand even in their wallets. Then, citizens are spectators, consumers of public services in disarray, and the speech of union members refers for many to a distressing experience, some in the health network, some at the gates of education. They are behind the unions in their demands.
The unions have chosen the strategy of small steps and gentle gradation, which also allows the population to slowly get used to the idea of service interruptions forcing some changes in habits. Let us not forget that Quebec is used to forced seclusion, after the wear and tear of three years of pandemic. This does not immediately erase the unpleasant effects of the strike, but it certainly gives the unions some extra points.
The FAE, which represents 66,000 primary and secondary teachers, is adding an additional level of pressure by aiming for an indefinite general strike from November 23. Faithful to a tradition of demands and actions more robust than other unions, this federation comes to do useful work by giving, with this threat which we guess is serious, fuel to others. The hypothesis of schools closed on the eve of the long Christmas break is certainly not one of the scenarios that the government likes to envisage.
It must be admitted, however, that we know very little about the substance of this negotiation. Except in its parameters of salary requests and proposals, where the parties remain very far from each other, the information that emanates from the tables where the “normative” aspect is discussed, which has little or no impact on the financial plan, but which dictates working conditions, are few in number. Yet this is where the crux of the matter lies. Unions hope for gains to relieve the workload and achieve better work-family balance. We can’t blame them. For its part, the government remains attentive to any measure that will allow it to gain flexibility, because there remain obstacles in the collective agreements which do not allow it to move with agility when the context requires it. This is a legitimate request.
The employer state finds itself in an uncomfortable position, which we were able to assess on Tuesday when Finance Minister Eric Girard presented an economic update dictated by the slowdown in growth. “The next six months will be very difficult,” said the minister, whose update does not contain any flamboyant measures for individuals, apart from an indexation of the tax system of 5.08%. It is therefore within prudent parameters that Quebec must find a satisfactory compromise that will not insult health and education workers. The challenge is grandiose. The latest offer made by the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, which brings the salary increase to 10.3% over 5 years — in addition to a $1,000 lump sum and 3% for work organization issues —, only served to unite union members in a movement of anger. Union representatives want increases of around 20% over three years.
Quebec says it has provisioned for state employees the equivalent of its last offer, which will satisfy neither the main stakeholders nor the opposition, who accuse the government of not having sufficient room for maneuver to prevent the impoverishment of employees. Between union demands and the openness of the State, we must find the space for reason without letting pressure tactics cause social chaos, which could easily tip the balance of power. The time has come to accelerate the pace of exchanges.