Quebec Government Issues Ultimatum to Teachers, Public Healthcare and Social Services Workers

The Couillard government gave Quebec’s second-largest public sector labour union, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), until Monday to “reason” with the Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS), which rejected the tentative agreement reached between Quebec and public sector unions.

The FSSS, one of the CSN eight federations, is the province’s most prominent public healthcare and social services union. The FSSS members rejected the tentative agreement, which included a two-year salary freeze that would give most of its workers a pay rate increase of just over 6 percent in the five-year contract. 

The government’s newly appointed President of the Treasury Board, Sam Hamad, directly called the President of the CSN, Jacques Létourneau Friday, so that he would “reason” with the FSSS to reconsider the government’s offer. He then informed Létourneau the government always negotiated in good faith.

To the President of the Treasury Board

The majority of the FSSS CSN union workers know that including salary scales in contract negotiations is not negotiating in good faith. 

Salary scale talks between the government and unions began before contract talks, as they should. The CSN’s original position was that salary scale negotiations should conclude before the start of contract negotiations.

The tentative agreement will continue to weaken the purchasing power of the majority of workers in the health and social services network.

Finally, Mr. Hamad, bullying a request to the FSSS and the FAE* to accept an agreement that is the most significant labour union sellout in Quebec history, is not negotiating in good faith.

*The Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE), which represents approximately 49,000 teaching members, also rejected the tentative agreement, making the labour organization a Hamad target.