{"id":11515,"date":"2023-10-24T21:53:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T01:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=11515"},"modified":"2023-10-28T15:39:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T19:39:09","slug":"public-sector-strike-on-the-horizon-in-quebec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2023\/10\/public-sector-strike-on-the-horizon-in-quebec\/","title":{"rendered":"Public sector strike on the horizon in Qu\u00e9bec"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Workers,
A September 23, 2023 protest brought over one hundred thousand workers into the streets of Montreal. Photo credit: FTQ<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the next few months, there probably will be a major confrontation between the Qu\u00e9bec government and public sector unions, the likes of which we have not seen since at least 2004, and possibly since the 1980s. One clear sign of that dynamic is the demonstration<\/a> by one hundred thousand workers on September 23 in Montreal, on a Saturday. Several factors are leading in that direction: first, the arrogance of a bosses\u2019 government determined to have their way; second, the accumulated frustration and outrage of public sector workers after decades of neglect and the slow erosion of public services; third, the sympathy of broad sections of the population for the people who have kept public services going during the pandemic and beyond.<\/p>\n

The government<\/h4>\n

The government of Fran\u00e7ois Legault\u2014founding leader of the Future of Qu\u00e9bec Coalition (Coalition avenir Qu\u00e9bec<\/em> – CAQ) and prime minister since 2018\u2014is mostly made up of people who were executives in the private sector before getting into politics, including Legault himself who was CEO of an airline. Collectively, they are always on the side of landlords against tenants (most of them being landlords themselves), on the side of oil and gas companies against the climate, and in favor of roads and bridges instead of public transit, etc. It is a conservative party akin to moderate Republicans or the most right-wing Democrats in the United States. His government is Qu\u00e9bec nationalist without being for independence, the most common political position for Qu\u00e9bec governments since the 1880s.<\/p>\n

The CAQ is a very recent political coalition with a very vague basis of unity, which was explicitly created to bring together former Liberals\u2014unhappy with the turn of their party towards unconditional support for federalism (or Canadian unity)\u2014and former Parti qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois<\/em> (PQ) members (including Legault, a former PQ minister of Education) who were willing to give up the goal of sovereignty for the foreseeable future. But their autonomism remains very symbolic, with very few gains since they took power. Mostly, they have targeted migrants and religious minorities in the name of secularism and Qu\u00e9bec nationalism, claiming to oppose racism while stubbornly refusing to recognize its systemic nature.<\/p>\n

The last round of public sector negotiations took place at the height of the pandemic in 2020. The deals reached separately by the unions (there was no common front, or united coalition of unions, at that time) were for a three-year contract instead of the usual five and involved few gains from the last collective agreements of 2015. It seemed then that the government had decided to avoid a confrontation that would add to the crisis caused by the coronavirus, and to aim instead for a rematch soon after the general election of 2022. Having been reelected in October 2022 with an increased majority at the National Assembly,1

The unions<\/h4>\n

Having anticipated that this current fight would be harder, four of the main unions representing public sector workers decided to form a Common Front (Front commun), meaning that they bargain together on common issues like wages, pensions, and family leave. Together, those four organizations (FTQ<\/a>, CSN<\/a>, CSQ<\/a> and APTS<\/a>), represent 420 thousand workers, about seventy percent of whom are women. They work in health care, social services, education, and other services managed by the province. Other unions outside the Front commun represent some of the teachers (FAE<\/a>) and most nurses (FIQ<\/a>). In total, more than half a million workers are currently bargaining with the province.<\/p>\n