Quebec public sector strikes: Premier Legault says he's ready to increase the offer
For the first time since Quebec's public sector unions began strike action earlier this month, Quebec Premier François Legault said clearly on Thursday he is willing to increase his government's offer.
But, he said, unions need to show more "flexibility," particularly around work schedules, adding that the current round of negotiations will be decisive for the future of the health and education networks and their ability to provide efficient services.
Legault said too many past governments rushed to settle issues around salary increases and failed to press the unions on how work is organized.
"Come to the negotiation table," he said in a message to the unions, whose 570,000 members were on strike Thursday. "In exchange for this flexibility, we are ready to enhance our offer." However, he wouldn't say how much more he was willing to put on the table.
Flexibility, Legault said, comes in the form of teachers accepting class assignment in May rather than in August, avoiding a last-minute scramble by school boards to assign teachers to classes. In August, Quebec was missing thousands of teachers weeks before the start of school, but that number was drastically reduced as teachers accepted assignments.
Flexibility for nurses, Legault continued, comes when health authorities can pay nurses extra to take "undesirable" shifts, such as nights, weekends and in remote areas. As well, he said, it should be easier to assign nurses to different hospitals.
Unions, for their part, say they are willing to negotiate work schedules but won't do so in public.
Four unions known by their initials — CSQ, CSN, APTS and FTQ — have formed what they call a "common front" and are striking together. They represent some 420,000 members in the health, education and social services sectors. Thursday was the last day of a three-day strike, following a one-day strike on Nov. 6. Union leaders wouldn't say what pressure tactics could come next.
"Flexibility, we've had it for a long time," Magali Picard, head of the FTQ, told reporters, in response to Legault. Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, told the same news conference that the government is using the issue of flexibility to influence the public.
"It works with the population, because by telling them that, it makes us look like we are people who won't budge — but we are moving. We are in transaction mode."
Unions have rejected the proposal for a 10.3-per-cent salary increase over five years, a one-time payment of $1,000 to each worker, and an extra three per cent for certain jobs the province says are priorities.
Instead, they want a three-year deal that includes salary increases tied to the inflation rate: two percentage points above inflation in the first year or $100 per week, whichever is more beneficial, followed by three points higher than inflation in the second year and four points higher in the third.
Members of the common front are scheduled to return to work Friday. But the FAE, which represents about 66,000 elementary and secondary school teachers, launched an unlimited general strike on Thursday.
"Teachers, when they left their classrooms, they left with the idea of staying on the street for as long as it took to reach an agreement," FAE president Mélanie Hubert said Thursday in an interview.
As well, the FIQ, representing about 80,000 nurses and other health-care workers, is on strike until the weekend. Its president, Julie Bouchard, said the premier's desire for flexibility — allowing nurses to be transferred more easily between health facilities — would create more instability.
"It's not by moving health-care professionals from one place to another, as they please, as they wish, that we ensure better care and make the network more attractive and retain more people," Bouchard said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From AI running wild to collapsing ecosystems, government report outlines future disruptions
From collapsing ecosystems to artificial intelligence running wild, a new Canadian government report outlines 35 disruptions that could rattle the country in the coming years.
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton hospitalized after prison attack
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked and sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
opinion Tom Mulcair: With Trudeau spiralling, Mark Carney waits in the wings
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair argues that if there's an unofficial frontrunner in the eventual race to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, it has to be former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
Toronto Blue Jays fan struck by 110 m.p.h foul ball offered tickets, signed baseball by team
The Toronto Blue Jays have offered tickets and a signed baseball to a fan who says she was struck in the face by a 110 m.p.h (177 km/h) foul ball at Friday’s game.
Matthew Perry's death is being investigated over ketamine level found in actor's blood, reports say
An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
OPP continues to investigate boat collision north of Kingston, Ont. that left 3 people dead
Ontario Provincial Police continue to investigate a long weekend fatal boat collision on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont.
Police in Ontario say suspects charged in armed home invasion near Toronto part of 'larger criminal network'
Police in Ontario say a group of suspects charged in an armed home invasion north of Toronto last year were driving a vehicle stolen in a carjacking in Calgary just one month earlier.
Stolen septic truck swerves through traffic, spike belt needed to stop it: Manitoba RCMP
A 29-year-old woman has been charged after police say she stole a septic truck from a Manitoba community and drove erratically on the highway.
Orphan orca's extended family spotted off northeast side of Vancouver Island
Members of a killer whale pod related to an orphan orca calf that escaped a remote British Columbia tidal lagoon last month have been spotted off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.