CUPE is calling for an urgent meeting with Hélène David, Minister of Higher Education, after learning that she has authorized a payment of $1.6 million in bonuses to executives to compensate for their overtime during the strike at Laval University.
“This decision contravenes the spirit of the anti-scab law. With this additional remuneration, the government is destroying the balance of the parties at the table and removing the employer’s incentive to negotiate in good faith. The government can prolong a strike by paying those who are doing the work of the strikers. In a context where universities are already underfunded, this news is scandalous,” said Denis Bolduc, President of CUPE Québec.
1922 members of the Union of Laval University employees were on strike for six weeks this past winter.
“These workers were picketing in the cold while strikebreakers were doing their job. The Université Laval administration will give each of its 266 executives a check for $6,000 to thank them for their overtime work. That doesn’t make sense. It shows a flagrant lack of judgment and we demand an immediate meeting with the minister responsible for this poor decision,” concluded Benoit Bouchard, Secretary General of CUPE-Québec.
With more than 114,000 members in Quebec, CUPE represents 10,500 university employees, mostly support staff. CUPE is also present in the following sectors: health and social services, communications, education, energy, municipalities, government corporations and public agencies, air and urban transport, the mixed sector and the maritime sector.
