Quebec's Common Front to update members on proposed agreement and consultations

The Common Front of public sector unions said it will take stock of its proposed agreement and the consultation with its members on Sunday, while the intermediate bodies of its member unions were still meeting on Friday.

Consultation meetings for workers belonging to the CSQ, APTS, CSN and FTQ unions will be held from mid-January to mid-February.

Together, the four union federations represent around 420,000 workers in the education and health networks.

The tentative settlement reached on Dec. 28 provides for wage increases of 17.4 per cent over five years, with a clause protecting purchasing power for the last three years of the employment contract.

It also contains improvements to group insurance.

Before consulting their members, the four union organizations also had to consult their intermediary bodies, both on the sectoral agreements -- working conditions specific to each sector -- and on the inter-sectoral agreement -- dealing with wages, for example.

They are not all at the same stage. Some bodies were still meeting on Friday to study the whole issue.

The Common Front member organizations walked off the job for 11 days in November and December - one day, then three consecutive days, then seven - before reaching a tentative settlement with the Quebec government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 5, 2023.