Union negotiations: Quebec ups offer for education, healthcare workers

The Quebec government announced Wednesday that it's upping its offers for education and healthcare workers in the hopes of reaching collective agreements with unions.

According to Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel, the government is offering a $12,000 lump sum to retirement-eligible teachers who voluntarily agree to remain full-time in 2023-2024.

Quebec estimates that nearly 7,000 teachers will be eligible for this offer in the next school year.

In addition, $143 million will extend bonuses for health and social services workers until the end of the summer.

LeBel said these measures are in addition to those contained in Quebec's initial offer, a nine per cent salary increase over five years, and last March's offer of an 11 to 17 per cent increase for more than 280,000 employees, i.e. nearly half the workforce in the public and parapublic sectors.

The Treasury Board president wants to intensify the work at the bargaining tables, stressing that the approach of summer vacations cannot be an excuse to slow down discussions.

Intensive negotiations will therefore take place from mid-May until the end of the summer.

 This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 17, 2023.