Progress was made in negotiations for the renewal of public sector collective agreements, at the end of the week, in the health and education networks.
Several advances were made at the sectoral tables while unions announced that they had reached tentative agreements in principle on their working conditions.
The Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS) and the College Council of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, affiliated with the FTQ, announced on Sunday that they had in turn reached a hypothesis of agreement in principle, after a night of intensive work at the sectoral negotiation table.
The APTS represents 65,000 members in the health and social services sector.
“For a little over a year, we have been working hard to obtain an improvement in the conditions of exercise and practice of professionals and technicians who are members of the APTS as well as better recognition of their expertise in order to combat the labor shortage and work overload in our public network,” declared Robert Comeau, president of the APTS in a press release Sunday morning.
“The gains obtained today would promote attraction and retention within our 108 job titles,” said Mr. Comeau, whose union is a member of the Inter-union Common Front in the current public sector negotiations.
Moreover, it is only when a hypothesis of agreement has also been obtained at the central table that the general council of the APTS will decide whether there will be an agreement in principle to be submitted to the vote of its members in general assembly.
Late Sunday morning, the government confirmed the news. No details were given except that the possible agreement is for a period of five years.
A few hours later, it was the turn of the College Council, also a member of the Common Front, to make a similar announcement. The union also recalled that “this hypothesis of settlement [était] linked to a settlement at the central table where salary issues are negotiated.
The Common Front, which includes the CSN, the CSQ, the FTQ and the APTS, represents some 420,000 Quebec state workers in the public sector in education, health and social services. In particular, he negotiates salaries and pension plans at the central table.
On Saturday, it was the Federation of Health and Social Services, affiliated with the CSN (FSSS-CSN), which got the ball rolling by announcing that it had reached a “hypothetical agreement in principle” sectoral with Quebec. It represents 120,000 healthcare workers.
The agreement is over five years, from 2023 to 2028, and targets nearly 40% of the staff in the health and social services network, announced the office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel.
Sectoral agreements in education
Around 9 p.m. Saturday, the Federation of Education Professionals of Quebec affiliated with the CSQ (FPPE-CSQ) announced a proposed sectoral regulation for the 58 French-speaking school service centers that it represents.
“This proposal targets sectoral working conditions for professional staff and will be presented to the Federal Council of the Federation on December 27,” the union said in a press release. The council must approve this proposed regulation so that it can be presented to the members.
The day before, the Federation of Education Unions (FSE), affiliated with the CSQ, as well as the Provincial Association of Teachers of Quebec (APEQ) endorsed a proposed sectoral regulation with the Legault government as part of the negotiations for the renewal of collective agreements.
The FSE-CSQ represents 95,000 teachers and the APEQ represents members of the English-speaking school network.
A sectoral agreement in principle was also announced Saturday evening by the Federation of Professional College Personnel (FPPC-CSQ). The agreement targets more than 2,000 professionals.
Then before dawn on Sunday, the negotiating committee of the FEESP-CSN CEGEP Support Sector also confirmed on its Facebook page that it had “reached a hypothesis of agreement in principle with the College Employer Negotiating Committee (CPNC) on sectoral matters affecting the working conditions of CEGEP support staff.”
This hypothesis of an agreement in principle will be presented to the delegates of the CEGEP Support Sector unions shortly, we add.
Then in the afternoon, it was the turn of the Federation of School Support Personnel (FPSS-CSQ) to arrive at global settlement proposals with the Employer Negotiating Committee for French-speaking School Service Centers and the Employer Negotiating Committee for English-speaking school boards.
“Negotiations are continuing for the renewal of the collective agreements for school support staff in the Cree and Kativik school boards,” we add in the press release.
The FPSS issues a warning: there is not yet a regulation at the central intersectoral table. We will have to agree on salaries and “other essentials for school support staff” if we want to avoid a resumption of pressure tactics in January.
Negotiations continue at the central table
Before starting the weekend’s negotiation blitzes, the union leaders of the Inter-Union Common Front said they still wanted to reach a global agreement before Christmas.
All the unions affiliated with those of the CSN and the CSQ which reached agreements at the sectoral tables stressed that the issues at the central table have not yet been resolved.
Several emphasized that salary issues should be resolved in order to avoid an unlimited general strike by the Common Front at the start of 2024, in their respective communications to their members.
None of the public sector unions affiliated with the FTQ have yet announced any possibility of an agreement at their sectoral tables.
And outside the Common Front…
Pressure is now increasing on the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) and the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), which are not part of the Inter-union Common Front in the current round of negotiations with the Quebec government .
In health, the Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec (FIQ) recalled Saturday evening on its Facebook page that “negotiations have continued with the government, in the presence of the conciliator, since his appointment last Tuesday. »
The FIQ, which represents 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, assures its members that it will keep them “informed of developments”.
On the FAE side, the unlimited general strike is testing the patience of its 66,000 members, without strike funds and therefore without income since November 23.
In a press release Friday evening, its president Mélanie Hubert affirmed that the unlimited general strike of FAE teachers “is [poursuivrait] when we return from the Holidays” since “the subjects imposed [par le gouvernement] did not allow [pas] to reach a satisfactory agreement for the moment.
However, she assured that “the Federation and its work teams remain available to negotiate throughout the holiday break period, if necessary.”
To watch on video
2023-12-24 19:26:18
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