Quebec's labour tribunal rejects complaint after employment agency used during nurses' strike

The Quebec Labour Tribunal logo photographed in Jan. 2024. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Quebec’s labour tribunal sided with employers concerning the use of an employment agency during a nurses' strike. The union's complaint of obstruction was dismissed.

The case was between the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de la Côte-Nord and the Syndicat des intervenant(e)s de la santé du Nord-Est québécois, affiliated with the CSQ, which represents the nurses there.

These nurses had been on strike for several days in November 2023, while providing essential services.

At a nursing home, the employer used a placement agency during the strike, as it had done before the strike.

The union agreed that the employer could continue to use independent labour, but it had to respect the decision on essential services and reduce the working hours of this labour force by 10 per cent, as was the case for its members during the strike.

It also alleged that the employer had put agency staff to work on strike days, in excess of the usual workforce. It claimed that some of them had replaced the employees during their strike time and performed their duties.

The employer denied having added outside personnel. It claimed that it had simply reorganized work around strike hours to mitigate the impact on patients.

After hearing the evidence, the labour tribunal ruled that “the evidence does not show an increase in independent labour at the CISSS or the CHSLD Boisvert on strike days. Nor is it proven that the employer entrusted the latter with employee functions, with the intention of interfering with the union's activities.”

Therefore, the complaint of interference with union activities with dismissed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French Dec. 19, 2024.