Quebec common front unions threaten unlimited strike if no deal reached by new year

Despite optimism from Quebec's common front union leaders earlier this week, the coalition released a statement Tuesday evening saying it would launch an unlimited strike in the new year if a deal isn't reached in the coming days. 

The multi-union coalition known as the Front commun in French is pushing for better working conditions in the public health and education sectors. It represents 420,000 workers in the province. 

Tuesday evening, the statement published by the common front said no deal had emerged from ongoing negotiations with the government so far this week. The coalition said it was still hopeful it would reach a tentative agreement before 2024.

"While progress is being made at the central bargaining table, the issues of pay, insurance, regional disparities and skilled workers are not yet resolved," the statement read.

The common front said it has two unresolved demands: guaranteed inflation protection and a "catch-up increase, for which no figure has been given in order to leave room for negotiating at the bargaining table."

The four heads of the common front, who represent its four major union federations, held a news conference Wednesday morning where they asked for intensive negotiations with the government.

"Come to the table — not for 15 minutes," said Magali Picard, the president of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec. "You need to stay there for hours to exchange, to listen and understand one another, not to say 'what's my mandate, what's your mandate,' but to find out what's a better solution for everyone." 

François Enault, who spoke for the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, said the threat of a unlimited strike was not a sign that the unions intended to stop negotiating.

"On the contrary," he said, "what we're telling the government today is that it's still possible to have an agreement before the end of the year, but there has to be an effort."

Meanwhile, the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers, which represents educators in the English system, told CBC that it has also already rejected the latest offer.

An unlimited strike by the common front would keep all public schools in the province closed indefinitely. As it stands now, with only the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE) on an unlimited strike, only schools with FAE personnel (a large number of French schools, but not all of them) are closed indefinitely affecting 368,000 students.

The FAE, which represents 66,000 elementary and high school teachers across the province, has been on strike since Nov. 23. 

An unlimited strike is a work stoppage with no set end date. The striking workers stay out until they agree to a new deal — or they are forced back to work, but the government has repeatedly said it has no intention of passing back-to-work legislation.

The common front's threat Tuesday came hours after Quebec Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel announced she had made a proposal to the FAE and the Fédération des syndicats de l'enseignement (FSE), which represents 95,000 teachers.

Government offer a 'smoke screen': union

FSE leadership rejected the offer Tuesday evening, calling it "a smoke screen" and saying it didn't address class sizes and teacher workload. 

The FAE also rejected the offer Wednesday afternoon. Echoing the FSE, the FAE said in a statement the proposal represented "significant setbacks" on negotiation talks and failed to acknowledge the union's demands.

"It's clear to us that the François Legault government is in no way choosing to help public schools recover from the deterioration they've experienced for the past 20 years," FAE president Mélanie Hubert said.

"The premier and his representatives have opted for a strategy of exhausting teachers by drawing this conflict out, which is unacceptable and irresponsible when teachers were already suffering and the impacts on students."

Tuesday, Labour Minister Jean Boulet said he had appointed a conciliator for negotiations with the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) to facilitate a deal. 

The FIQ, which represents 80,000 nurses and other health-care professionals, had requested a conciliator, saying it could no longer conduct talks directly with Premier François Legault's government.

"After more than 75 negotiating sessions and more than a year at the table, we see that there are still very important differences between us and the government on fundamental issues," FIQ president Julie Bouchard said Tuesday.