Quebec government engineers launch indefinite strike Friday morning

Engineers working for the Quebec government began an unlimited general strike Friday morning.

They will move from an evening, night, and weekend strike to an unlimited strike.

These 2,100 engineers are members of the Association professionnelle des ingénieurs du gouvernement du Québec (APIGQ) — a large union independent of the central government agencies. They work primarily at the Ministry of Transportation, as well as the Ministry of the Environment, Municipal Affairs, and Cybersecurity, for example.

This strike will therefore affect construction sites to varying degrees, warns the association’s president, Marc-André Martin.

“The construction industry will suffer much more. We’ll be at a standstill, for all intents and purposes. Work that hasn’t started won’t start. Work that has started will have to partially shut down, depending on who’s overseeing what. So, for the average Joe, maybe this will be beneficial; there will be fewer orange cones this summer. But for ordinary taxpayers, this isn’t good news, because we have a duty to maintain infrastructure; it’s our job,” exclaimed Martin.

Essential services will be provided to ensure public health and safety. Between 200 and 300 engineers are assigned to this task, Martin specified.

Negotiations

No further negotiation sessions are currently planned between the parties.

“The government told us there is no prospect of a settlement, so they ended negotiations,” Martin stated.

“It is inaccurate to say that the government has left the table. The government has been proposing meetings for several months, but the union is not making the necessary efforts to move negotiations forward.” “Moreover, we even suggested the intervention of a special mediator, which the union refused,” replied the office of Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel.

Both parties accuse each other of negotiating in bad faith.

“Faced with these multiple refusals, we had no choice but to file a complaint of bad faith bargaining against the engineers’ union,” reported the Treasury Board office.

And the APIGQ has also filed a complaint of bad faith bargaining against Quebec before the Administrative Labour Tribunal.

The Dispute

At this stage of the negotiations, it is not the salary increases that are causing the disagreement.

The government has offered engineers 17.4 per cent salary increases over five years, the same increases that were granted to all government employees. Both parties agree on this.

“Obviously, this 17.4 per cent must be accompanied by compensation in terms of work organization, which 98 per cent of employees in the public and parapublic sectors have accepted so far,” the Treasury Board emphasized.

Martin stated that he “accepted the compensation offered by LeBel, with certain reservations.”

He said, however, that “the government persists in offering us less than what the other 98 per cent have signed.” He referred to a sectoral budget, therefore dedicated to alternative working conditions for engineers. He made a comparison with teachers who received classroom aids to support them in their tasks.

In the case of engineers, it is the layout of the workplaces that poses a problem. He stated that the government wants to redesign the premises into open spaces, while his members want layouts that promote the ability to concentrate.

“We’re trying to negotiate the status quo on our office layouts, which means at least maintaining acoustic screens, at least having a space where we can concentrate and work and interact with our colleagues,” summarizes Martin.

The Treasury Board says it remains hopeful for the negotiations. “An agreement is possible, but for that to happen, each party must be available and willing to discuss.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews