http://socialistaction.org/biggest-strikes-in-quebec-since-1972/
Biggest strikes in Quebec since 1972
Published January 18, 2016. | By Socialist Action.
Jan. 2016 Quebec
By ROBBIE MAHOOD
— MONTREAL — Leaders of Quebec’s Common Front of public sector unions
and the provincial Liberal government of Premier Philippe Couillard
announced a tentative agreement on Dec. 17. The deal covers wages and
pensions. Working conditions are negotiated separately by sector.
Grouped in the Common Front are the unions representing government
employees affiliated with the major union centrals, notably, the CSN
(Confédération des syndicats nationaux) and the FTQ (Fédération des
travailleurs du Québec), as well as several non-affiliated unions.
The agreement came on the heels of a one-day general strike involving
over 400,000 workers of the Common Front and affecting schools, health
care facilities and government services across the province. While
picket lines were set up at work sites, 40,000 marched in downtown
Montreal and another 20,000 in Quebec City.
The Dec. 9 strike was the biggest since 1972. That’s when the original
Common Front launched a work stoppage of 200,000 government employees
that in some communities saw strike committees commandeer radio stations
and take charge of government services, and ended only after union
leaders were imprisoned.
Preceding the December strike was an autumn punctuated by big
mobilizations. A mass union demonstration in Montreal on Oct. 3 opposed
the austerity agenda of the Liberal regime. The Common Front launched a
series of rotating strikes. Community organizations, students, the
feminist movement and climate justice activists also took to the
streets. Teachers camped outside the Minister of Education’s office,
picketed schools, and marched in their thousands, supported by a
parents’ group dedicated to defending “our public schools”.
As negotiations wore on, public opinion shifted perceptibly against the
government. The workers’ demands are seen by many as protecting the
integrity of Quebec’s public health care and educational institutions.
There is sympathy as well for the underpaid and largely female workforce
who keep government services running. Average pay for government
employees in Quebec lags 8% behind their private sector counterparts.
Support for the Liberal austerity drive has also been undermined by the
government’s obvious class bias and hypocrisy. A $1.2 billion bail-out
of Bombardier, Quebec’s flagship in the global corporate world, and a
34% pay increase awarded to the province’s doctors were announced during
negotiations with the Common Front!
Both the union leaders and the government for separate but convergent
reasons wished to avoid a prolonged stand-off and the risk of an
escalating confrontation. A repetition on a grander scale of Quebec’s
epic student strike of 2012 is something both parties would prefer to avoid.
The agreement in principle was widely hailed in the media. It was billed
as an 11th-hour “miracle” that, thanks to compromise on both sides,
would meet the government’s austerity targets while at the same time
“avoiding (sic) the impoverishment” of its employees, to quote the FTQ’s
chief negotiator.
A closer assessment indicates that compromise came overwhelmingly from
the union side. Salary increases will be limited to under 2% annually
for the next five years and this after years of retrenchment.
The agreement reached after a 13-hour secret session in the office of
Martin Coiteux, Quebec’s President du Conseil du trésor (effectively the
Finance Ministry), was not exactly a charade. But it has the character
of shadow-boxing between two ‘frères ennemis’ (brother enemies), as some
in Quebec term the relationship between the union tops and the employers.
It remains to be seen how easy it will be to sell this package to the
ranks. Already there are signs of discontent. Delegates to the council
of the FSSS (Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux—Federation
of health and social service workers), representing about a quarter of
the Common Front members, have recommended rejection. Likewise opposed
to the agreement, even though outside the Common Front, are leaders of
the FAE (Fédération autonome de l’enseignement – Autonomous Federation
of Teachers) representing 34,000 Montreal area teachers.
Voting by members of the unions will take place early in the New Year.
Rejection of their leaders’ advice will take courage and would pose the
question of how to take the struggle forward. In particular, it would
raise the perspective of a general or social strike, since nothing less
will be required to defeat the Liberal government.
Photo: The Canadian Press
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Posted in Canada, International, Labor. | Tagged public workers, Quebec,
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