Quebec government engineers launch unlimited strike

The Association professionnelle des ingénieurs du gouvernement du Québec (APIGQ) will launch an unlimited general strike on Nov. 14 to increase the pressure and renew their collective agreement.

The APIGQ is an independent union that represents over 2,000 engineers and 88 per cent of members voted in favour of the motion on Oct. 22.

The engineers want to receive more complex assignments from the government because all the major projects are being outsourced to private firms, at a high cost to taxpayers.

“We are in a blitz to finish the work before the snow and frost arrive. So, it is certain that we are in a fairly critical period for the work that is not yet completed,” said APIGQ President Marc-André Martin, in an interview on Tuesday. “For the Transport Ministry and the Ministry of the Environment, November is a preparation blitz where all the planning for next year is being done. Even if it is very administrative, it is really during November, early December, that the majority of the work programming, the programming to issue permits for the environment… that’s when it happens,” he explained.

These engineers work mainly in the Transport Ministry and the Environment Ministry, but also in the Ministry of Cybersecurity, Agriculture, Municipal Affairs and Energy and Natural Resources.

Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel pointed out that if a strike is called next week, “in the event of an engineers’ strike, essential services will have to be maintained.”

There are 490 of the 2,000 engineers who could be called upon to provide these essential services, said Martin.

The negotiations

Negotiations with the Treasury Board began in January 2024, and conciliation took place, without bringing the two parties together.

“Let us recall that to date, we have concluded agreements with 98 per cent of employees in the public sectors. We also hope to reach an agreement with government engineers,” explained Minister LeBel’s office.

The main disputes revolve around salaries, subcontracting, professional autonomy and teleworking.

Martin says that Quebec’s salary offer, for the moment, is nine per cent over five years, while all government employees obtained 17.4 per cent over five years.

“The salary increases granted will depend on the compensation obtained in terms of flexibility. Discussions must continue at the tables,” said the Treasury Board.

The APIGQ maintains that Quebec wants to treat its members like flexible factory employees who work night and evening shifts, while its members want to return to the field and obtain major mandates for major projects, rather than resorting to private subcontracting.

“We want to move away from paperwork and work more in engineering. We want to have more complex mandates. We want to get back to the construction sites,” said Martin. “We want to develop internal expertise to, not necessarily eliminate, but limit the use of excessive subcontracting which led, precisely, to the Charbonneau Commission.”

-With files from La Presse Canadienne