A favourable first week as Common Front votes on agreements in principle

After a first week of meetings of the Common Front's member unions, workers who have voted so far have endorsed the agreement in principle reached with the Quebec government.

It's only the first week out of five in the vast consultation of 420,000 health and education workers at the CSQ, CSN, FTQ and APTS.

Support for the intersectoral agreement on wage increases is stronger than for the sectoral agreement on working conditions, at least among the unions, which are holding two separate votes on the matter.

In the health sector

In the health-care sector, support for the agreement remained strong among the Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS).

At the CISSS de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue, where 1,700 members work, support reached 82 per cent. In the Laurentians, a 4,300-member union delivered 77 per cent support. At CHU de Québec-Université Laval, a 2,000-member union, support reached 78 per cent. Support was lower at the APTS union in Lanaudière, with 3,400 members: 67 per cent.

At the FTQ, in the health sector, the Syndicat québécois des employés de service (SQEES) reported on Friday only two votes with support in the 70 per cent range; the others are above 80 per cent.

Votes haven't yet been cast from the CSN-affiliated Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS) and the FTQ-affiliated Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

The CSQ-affiliated Fédération de la santé has said that it will not submit the sectoral agreement to a vote by its members, because it is dissatisfied with it. It has 5,000 members, all of whom are nurses.

What's more, the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ), which is not part of the Common Front and represents over 90 per cent of nurses, has still not reached an agreement with Quebec -- a sign that some nurses' issues remain unresolved.

In education

In education, five of the 33 unions of the Fédération des syndicats de l'enseignement have voted. These include elementary and high school teachers, such as the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE), where the agreement is on the ropes.

At the FSE-CSQ, four of the five unions that voted approved both the intersectoral and sectorial agreements:

• Eastern Townships, 50.5 per cent for the sectorial, 88 per cent for the intersectoral
• Chaudière, 86 per cent for the sectorial, 90 per cent for the intersectoral
• Vaudreuil, 64 per cent for the sectorial, 87 per cent for the intersectoral
• Bois-Francs, where 72 of members voted in favour of the sectoral agreement and 87 per cent in favour of the intersectoral agreement.

Despite the favourable vote, members of the latter region expressed disappointment at the meeting, reported Nancie Lafond, president of the Bois-Francs union, in an interview.

"What stood out was the palpable disappointment at the government's stubborn refusal to listen to the teachers' cri de coeur on class composition. This was at the heart of negotiations for teachers," she said, adding, "It's deplorable that so little progress has been made in this area."

So far, only one FSE-CSQ union, in Lanaudière, has voted against the sectoral agreement, at 62 per cent, but has voted in favour of the intersectoral agreement, at 93 per cent.

The CSQ's other education unions also largely approved the agreements.

The CSQ reported votes of 85 per cent, 95 per cent and 96 per cent among CEGEP support staff.

Among CEGEP teachers, the CSQ reported five votes in favour of the sector-based agreement, with an average of 78 per cent, and five votes in favour of the intersectoral agreement, with an average of 86 per cent.

Among school support employees, the CSQ reported four votes in favour and one against.

On the FAE side, the week ended with three votes held among its nine unions. One union voted against, Laval, while two voted in favour, Montreal and Pointe-de-l'île, but in proportions of 52 per cent and 58.5 per cent, respectively. 

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 19, 2024.