Quebec minister accuses union of theft, vandalism at his constituency office

Quebec's transport minister says that a union protest on Tuesday crossed the line, with the workers even stealing from his office, but the union is flatly denying the accusation.

"Earlier today, members of [the SFPQ union] broke into my constituency office, frightened and intimidated my two employees, stole items and committed acts of vandalism," wrote Minister François Bonnardel on Twitter.

"I strongly condemn this deplorable and unjustified gesture and we will file a complaint with the police," Bonnardel continued.

"This kind of behaviour has no place here or anywhere else and I ask the SFPQ to bring its members to order."

Je condamne fortement ce geste déplorable et injustifiée et nous porterons plainte auprès de la police. Ce genre de comportement n’a pas sa place chez nous ou ailleurs et je demande au SFPQ de ramener ses membres à l’ordre.

— François Bonnardel (@fbonnardelCAQ) June 7, 2022

Bonnardel's constituency office is in Granby, in the Eastern Townships. Aside from being transport minister, he's also the minister responsible for that region.

The union in question is heading into a probable strike next week affecting almost 26,000 workers in various departments. The workers are mostly office workers and technicians.

The union fired back with its tweet saying that the Tuesday-morning incident was nothing like what Bonnardel described.

"We would like to correct the comments made by [Bonnardel]," the union wrote.

"Signs and posters were put up on the windows of the constituency office and they are easily removable," it said.

"Members then carried out an occupation of the office, respectfully and calmly. No theft, attempted intimidation or vandalism took place."

A spokesperson for the union told CTV News that he had no further comment beyond what was written on Twitter.

However, he confirmed that notice of strike action was sent later Tuesday to Minister of Labour Jean Boulet and to the president of Quebec's Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel.

The 26,000 members of the union who are trying to renegotiate their contract will be striking for a full week if talks don't make progress, said union spokesperson Eric Levesque.

"The next few days of negotiations will be decisive in determining the next stage in this labour dispute."

The office protest wasn't the first time the union has made a public protest during the talks. Two weekends ago, at the annual convention for Quebec's ruling CAQ party, 2,000 union members held a demonstration.

The 26,000 workers involved in the current negotiations need "solutions to stem the labour shortage," the union said.

"One only has to think of the delays in courthouses, which have reached a breaking point, or the endless wait on the phone for help," said the union.

"It's time for the Quebec state to become competitive again with the salarie offered by other employers in the private sector, municipalities or the federal government,” SFPQ president Christian Daigle was quoted as saying.

The union has 40,000 members overall.