CUPE 1638, the Syndicat des employés manuels de la Ville de Québec, and its allies held a demonstration in front of City Hall to denounce the Marchand administration’s inaction in the current negotiations and its use of the notion of internal equity to justify the stalling of talks.
“The Ville de Québec justifies its inaction by saying it needs to maintain internal equity between its white-collar and blue-collar workers; but when we compare them, this argument just doesn’t hold water,” explained Pierre-Guy Sylvestre, economist and coordinator of the research department at CUPE Québec. “White-collar staff are among the best-paid employees in the area for similar jobs, while the remuneration of blue-collar employees is well below regional comparables. Mayor Marchand fails to mention that white-collar workers accepted proposed increases in a completely different context.”
“Is it internal equity for the city to pay its white-collar workers above regional comparatives, but its blue-collar workers far below, and to offer the same increases to both groups year after year, while knowingly maintaining this internal pay disparity?” asked Luc Boissonneault, president of CUPE 1638, who was present at City Hall. “Internal equity hasn’t existed at the Ville de Québec for a long time. What we want is for the employer to correct this historic error.”
It should be noted that, on February 27, CUPE called off its strike in order to give mediation meetings a chance, after the employer representatives showed openness. Evidently, this openness at the negotiating table has melted away as quickly as snow in the spring sunshine.