Common front set to meet to review tentative agreement with Quebec

A few hundred demonstrators gather in front of the National Assembly, in Quebec City, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 on the first of a three-day general strike of members of their union common front. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

The public sector unions that make up the common front will begin meeting on Wednesday to study the proposed agreement in principle reached on Dec. 28 on the renewal of collective agreements.

For the time being, these are intermediate bodies of the unions affiliated with the major organizations concerned -- the CSN, CSQ, APTS and FTQ -- and not general assemblies of members. Workers' assemblies are expected to follow in mid-January since the members must ultimately decide.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ, will convene its governing body on Wednesday to study the proposed agreement.

The QFL-affiliated Syndicat québécois des employés de service (SQEES) will convene its local executive committees on Thursday.

The CSN-affiliated Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS) will convene its governing bodies on Thursday and Friday.

The other unions will follow suit over the next few days.

The content of the proposed settlement has not been made public except for the five-year duration of the contract, from 2023 to 2028. The collective agreements expired on March 31, 2023.

Withholding the content of the tentative settlement is custom, with the unions keeping the details under wraps for their members when the general assemblies are held to vote.

The common front has consistently refused to quantify its demands publicly. It had essentially asked for protection of its members' purchasing power, in the form of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), plus an increase in variable percentages according to the year, to "obtain some general catching-up of salaries."

"This is what guided us throughout this negotiating blitz to reach a proposed agreement," said the CSN, CSQ, APTS and FTQ when the tentative agreement was reached last month.

The Treasury Board stated that "this important five-year (2023-2028) agreement proposal takes into account the improvement of working conditions for government employees and the organization of work through greater flexibility in the collective agreements."

The news from the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ), which represents 80,000 nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, is less encouraging for the moment.

The FIQ has not yet reached a settlement proposal. However, on Dec. 19, it requested and obtained the appointment of a mediator from the Ministry of Labour.

The mediator asked the parties to refrain from making public statements until Jan. 15 to reduce the pressure and concentrate on the discussions at the table. These intensive negotiations are still ongoing.

In this context, the FIQ will not hold any further strike days between now and Jan. 15.

As for the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE), in a message sent out to its members on Monday, president Mélanie Hubert indicated that they would have the opportunity to vote on the agreement in principle recommended to them "in the course of the next few weeks," when general assemblies are held.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 2, 2024.