Without an agreement with Quebec for the renewal of their collective agreement, legal aid lawyers in Montreal and Laval will strike over the next few days.
The Montreal and Laval Legal Aid Lawyers' Union, affiliated with the CSN, has announced that the right to strike will be exercised from Friday until December 27.
This pressure tactic will affect all the activities of the Commission des services juridiques, since the legal aid duty and videoconferencing services for all of Quebec are assumed by lawyers in the Montreal region on statutory holidays, the unions said.
The union said the employer tried to prevent any form of pressure tactics during the holiday season by going to the Administrative Labour Tribunal.
It then changed its mind and imposed work schedules for the upcoming holidays, threatening disciplinary action against any lawyer who was unavailable, the union said.
"We refuse to give free rein to such intimidation of the lawyers we represent," said Justine Lambert-Boulianne, president of the Montreal and Laval Legal Aid Union (CSN), in a statement.
The union leader deplored Quebec's attitude towards the front-line actors of the judicial system.
"In the context of the current crisis in the justice system, it is astonishing that management and the Conseil du trésor do not choose to settle the legal aid lawyers' file for good by maintaining the working conditions they have acquired and renewed for more than 30 years," she said.
The main point of contention in the negotiations is pay parity with Crown attorneys.
Legal aid lawyers want the same salary increases as their colleagues, but the government is reportedly sticking to its offer of smaller increases.
In recent months, members of the legal aid lawyers' unions affiliated with the CSN have walked out a few times.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 23, 2022.
