Several protests and two more strike mandates at Hydro-Québec

Two more Hydro-Québec unions have just adopted strike mandates.

They join the four other unions at the utility that took out strike mandates last November.

In some cases, the mandate involves pressure tactics up to and including an indefinite general strike, in others up to and including a five-day strike.

Rallies by three of these unions are scheduled for Thursday at noon, in front of several Hydro-Québec offices, as well as the company’s head office in downtown Montreal.

Rallies of the common front of these three Hydro unions are also planned in Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Rouyn-Noranda, Chicoutimi, Saint-Jérôme, Baie-Comeau, Gatineau, Rimouski, Saint-Bruno, Saint-Hyacinthe, Laval, Valleyfield and Joliette.

The two additional strike mandates concern the Syndicat des employés de métier, whose members voted 99.3 per cent in favour of a pressure tactics mandate up to and including an unlimited general strike, and the Syndicat des technologues, whose members voted 98.9 per cent in favour of this mandate.

“This vote, held in the context of difficult negotiations that have dragged on for more than 14 months, garnered an exceptional, even historic, participation rate of more than 86 per cent of members,” Robert Claveau and Frederic Savard, presidents of the two unions, jointly stated in a press release.

Negotiations with the employer have been going on for over a year. They concern wages, pensions and telework.

On Monday, the Administrative Labour Tribunal dismissed complaints from two other Hydro-Québec unions claiming that the electricity producer was negotiating in bad faith and hindering union activities.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews