Once again, Quebec’s CAQ government has not kept its word to office staff, technicians and administrative professionals in the health and social services sector. Thousands of workers in the sector were waiting for retroactive pay equity payments promised for October 31, 2024. Their unions, however, learned that the government will be unable to follow through on its commitment.
In an agreement reached on December 21, 2023, the Conseil provincial des affaires sociales, CPAS-CUPE, and the union representing Quebec service employees, SQEES-FTQ, reached an agreement with the government to resolve a series of complaints aimed at maintaining pay equity, which mainly affects administrative officers along with medical and legal secretaries. Some of these complaints dated as far back as 2010. The government committed to paying the outstanding amounts to the thousands of workers in the system by October 31, 2024.
The government’s representatives requested an extension, stating that they would be unable to make the retroactive payments within a six-month timeframe, which is generally the case for agreements of this nature. Acting in good faith, the union organizations agreed to the government’s proposal to defer the payments to October 31, 2024.
Yesterday, the CPAS-CUPE and the SQEES-FTQ learned that the institutions could defer these payments further to early 2025.