Québec government, education and health sector workers in the Mauricie and Central Québec regions are set for a 24-hour strike November 10th. This will be the first rotating strike by members of the common front between the Québec Labour Federation (FTQ) and the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN).
Picket lines will be set up in front of workplaces throughout the region, including schools and community health centres. Municipalities affected by the strike include Trois-Rivières and Shawinigan. Essential services will not be affected.
“Provincial employees have made a lot of sacrifices over the past few years,” said Michel Dupont, the FTQ’s Regional Representative. “The government needs to treat them with respect and grant them acceptable working conditions. What the government has on the table now is unacceptable and it’s going to have to improve its offer to avoid conflicts.”
Public sector workers across Québec are fighting for better working conditions and quality public services. Their last collective agreement expired two years ago.
The Charest government wants a salary freeze for the first two years of a new agreement with provincial employees, followed by a wage increase of 8 per cent over the following six-and-a-half years.
More than 80 per cent of FTQ-CSN assemblies held to date have approved a strike mandate. The coalition has warned that rotating strikes will take place in other parts of the province if the government does not come up with a better agreement.