The Quebec government and unions representing the province’s public sector workers have reached a deal in principle.
CSQ President Louise Chabot announced the deal on behalf of the group in a single-sentence statement, but didn't elaborate or take questions.
The agreement covers 400,000 of the 550,000 public employees in the province.
Speaking in Quebec City, Treasury Board President Martin Coiteux said he would not divulge any details on the deal to allow the unions time to present the plan to a negotiating body, then to its members.
Negotiations between the provincial government and the Common Front of union groups last seven hours on Wednesday and went well into the night. The meeting between Coiteux and the five leaders representing 430,000 public workers resumed Thursday morning.
Following Wednesday’s the contract negotiation session, Coiteux said that both sides had made progress, while Daniel Boyer, president of the Quebec Labour Federation (FTQ) agreed that the meeting was "positive."
"We will tell you what we've agreed upon when we've finished, but I can tell you that work is going well," said Boyer.
Coiteux had invited the leaders to the meeting, which began at 5 p.m. and ended after midnight, interrupted by the arrival of some pizzas for dinner.
Before the meeting began union leaders expressed hope that negotiations would go well, since in their opinion not much progress has been made to date, despite numerous protests by public sector workers.
The union leaders said they were aware the government has the upper hand and can always use its legislative power to impose a contract.
Coiteux had said that his preference was for a contract agreement, and that he expected something could be worked out before Christmas.
In the past week multiple unions, which are not part of the Common Front, have worked out agreements in principle concerning their contracts.
In each case the agreements did not concern wages, which continue to be a sticking point, although the government has promised to revisit its offer of a three per cent pay hike over five years.
Coiteux said the new pay structure the government wants, along with benefits, is equal to a 7.5 per cent increase over five years.
Unions have been asking for a 13.5 per cent pay increase over three years.
The other major issue of dispute is retirement age.
The provincial government wants public sector workers to work longer, and only be eligible to retire at age 62. The Common Front wants to keep its retirement age at age 60.
The Common Front includes the FTQ, the CSN, the CSQ, the SFPQ and the APTS. Their contracts expired on March 31, 2015.
With a file from The Canadian Press
