A one-day strike for lawyers working at the Bar
Posted March 13, 2025 2:24 pm.
An unusual strike will take place on 26 March, when unionized lawyers working for the Bar will walk off the job.
These forty or so lawyers are represented by a local section of the Syndicat des employés professionnels et de bureau (SEPB), affiliated with the FTQ. The employer is the Barreau du Québec.
The dispute concerns pay, workload, and pensions.
In particular, the union is demanding that more professionals be hired “in order to deal with the large number of cases that are piling up and which, moreover, are more complex than they used to be.”
“In terms of pay, the employer’s offer represents a step backwards in relation to what the government has conceded to its public sector professionals – Crown prosecutors (DPCP), government lawyers – and, for us, this is unacceptable. Remuneration has a direct influence on the retention and attraction of quality professionals,” says the union.
Last December, 95 per cent of these lawyers gave themselves a mandate for two non-consecutive strike days, to be exercised at the appropriate time. The first strike day will therefore take place on 26 March.
The president of the union, Dominique Jolin, says she hopes that this strike day will break the deadlock in negotiations “so that we don’t have to consider more drastic pressure tactics or even an unlimited general strike.”
The Barreau du Québec, for its part, points out that this involves 40 lawyers out of more than 200 employees.
“As a responsible employer, we are remaining open and working in good faith to reach a negotiated settlement under the best possible conditions and as quickly as possible,” commented Catherine Ouimet, Director General of the Barreau du Québec.
“We have made offers that have so far been rejected by the union. In the meantime, we would like to reassure the public that our business continuity plan is ready, so that we can continue to protect the public and offer quality service within the same timeframe,” she added.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
