Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) 94% of the 58,000 workers in public and para-public sectors, education and health and social services accepted the agreement in principle reached with Quebec.

Therefore, all Quebec public and para-public sectors, education and health and social services workers should receive the same pay rate increases as the FTQ disclosed in their agreement.

According to sources the following are financial highlights from the FTQ agreement:

• Pay rate increases of 2% per year, for three years. The agreement, retroactive to April 1, 2020, will expire on March 31, 2023.

• A new salary structure provides more significant increases to the lowest-paid workers; for example, patient attendants and health and social services assistants will receive, excluding bonuses, a 15 percent salary increase over three years, from $22.35 to $25.63 per hour, light-duty housekeepers will receive a 9.8% increase, class 3 administrative Admin Techs 8.4 percent.

• The agreement also pays two lump sums in 2021 and 2022 of roughly $600 for salaried workers and a higher payment for low-wage earners.

• The employer’s contribution to the drug plan will double.

Prior to the FTQ agreement, Quebec had offered increases of 1.75%, then 1.75% and 1.5% with two lump sums and a possible increase of 1% if inflation is higher than 5% and the economy met the government’s forecasted growth.