MONTREAL -- Negotiations resumed Tuesday morning as the threat of an indefinite strike looms over Quebec's construction industry.
A strike could be called with 12 hours notice, stated the Alliance syndicale de la construction, which comprises five major construction unions, after it obtained a mandate to do so by 93 per cent.
The industry's four collective agreements, which cover 190,000 workers, expired on April 30. Mediation, which was supposed to bring both sides together, had not been renewed by that date.
The debate isn't about wages and officials say progress has been made on group insurance and pension plans.
The main issue now is the potential use of mobile applications with geolocation on the workers' personal phones.
With this technology, a worker is expected to activate the geolocation on their phone when they arrive at a worksite. The employer can then keep track of the hours worked.
However, the alliance says it is concerned about privacy due to the use of geolocation and the fact that it will be used on the workers' personal devices.
The two parties are now negotiating clauses to regulate the use of these applications, while respecting the workers' privacy.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 25, 2021.
