Quebec's 'common front' public sector unions will vote on new contract

An alliance of Quebec unions representing 420,000 public sector workers will take a proposed contract to its members for approval, after a fall and winter marked by massive strikes and protests.

The labour alliance representing the workers confirmed Sunday that the deal struck with the province Dec. 28 is now considered an agreement in principle, which union leaders will present to the workers during assemblies to be held between mid-January and mid-February.

"Our members have the floor," said Francois Enault, the first vice-president of the CSN, which is one of the four unions represented in the alliance.

"It's our members who will decide. I can describe the mobilization as historic, I can describe our strikes as historic, now it is up to our members to qualify this mobilization."

Magali Picard, the head of the FTQ, said the leadership of her union would be recommending that its members approve the deal. CSQ president Eric Gingras was less clear, but said that "if we're presenting (the deal), it's because it's interesting."

The union leaders confirmed the agreement reached Dec. 28 includes salary hikes of 17.4 per cent over five years, as well as improvements to group insurance, vacation and retirement programs.

The salary package includes a six per cent bump in the first year, which one union head described as the biggest one-year raise in the public sector in the last four decades. It also includes a provision for an additional boost if inflation is higher than expected.

The news marks another step towards resolving the labour dispute between Quebec and the union alliance known as the common front, which is made up of four unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers in sectors like education and health care.

The common front, which is the largest labour group negotiating with the province, has launched 11 days of strikes since November to pressure the government to reach a deal.

The different unions will weigh in on the agreement in principle by Feb. 19. Subsequently, certain unions could decide to adopt a new strike mandate, but Picard said that another strike by all four union groups is "unlikely" in the short term.

Enault, for his part, said that some 90 per cent of CSN member group heads approved the new deal, which bodes well for its adoption.

Quebec has also previously reached a deal in principle with a teachers union that has about 66,000 members, but is still negotiating with a major health-care worker union with 80,000 members.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Jan. 7, 2023.