A tentative agreement was reached this week between Local 1142 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Municipality of Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard. The municipality’s 23 workers are set to sign a five-year labour contract that provides for salary increases of two per cent along with numerous improvements in the areas of travel allowances, health and safety, and bereavement leave.
According to CUPE-FTQ representative Madeleine Hudon, “The union made these gains in a context of hard bargaining and intense but respectful exchange.”
This is the first agreement negotiated by CUPE-FTQ within the framework of the new act adopted in the fall of 2016 to amend various municipal-related provisions, including labour relations. “No recourse to that legislation or any form of pressure tactics were necessary, thanks to the union’s diligent efforts and the solidarity of its members,” explained Ms. Hudon.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE-FTQ) Local 1142 represents more than 150 municipal employees in communities throughout the Rimouski-Neigette, La Mitis and La Matapédia regional county municipalities (RCMs).
With more than 110,000 members, CUPE Quebec is active in 10 different sectors, including health and social services, communications, education, universities, energy, municipalities, Quebec government corporations and public agencies, air transportation, public transit and the mixed sector.