MONTREAL -- The FTQ, Quebec's largest labour union, on Friday announced it will not participate in three discussion forums announced by the Quebec government as part of public and para-public sector negotiations.
When the government presented its offers to half a million state employees in mid-December, the president of the Treasury Board, Christian Dubé, also announced a "first" within public-sector negotiations: the creation of three discussion forums.
These discussion forums focus on educational success, workers' health and accessibility to care for clients in long-term residences or those receiving home care.
Made up of employer and union representatives, these forums would include discussion of specific monetary measures for health-sector workers and teachers at the start of their careers.
However, the FTQ "does not want to get into this game," union president Daniel Boyer said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Friday.
He believes that these issues should be discussed at the negotiating table, not in discussion forums. These forums may be just a 'useless distraction," Boyer said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2020.
