Unions challenging education hiring freezes at Quebec labour tribunal

On Monday, the Administrative Labour Tribunal heard arguments from both sides in the case brought by the CSQ challenging the hiring freeze for staff who do not provide direct services to students.

Quebec imposed the hiring freeze in the public sector on Nov. 1 due to its tight financial situation.

The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) and four of its federations believe that the hiring freeze for staff who do not provide direct services to students constitutes an obstacle to union activities, in that it prevents the implementation of clauses in collective agreements that were just negotiated.

Certain clauses in the collective agreements provide greater job stability or employment prospects for employees with precarious status. For example, they could have access to a regular contract after a certain period of time.

However, the merits of the case have not yet been heard. The Attorney General filed a preliminary motion with the court, arguing that too much time has elapsed between the time the CSQ became aware of the Treasury Board’s intention to impose this hiring freeze and its complaint of obstruction.

Such a complaint must be filed within 30 days, under the Labour Code.

During the hearings last March, the parties heard witnesses regarding this time limit, touching on the specific comments that were made, when, by whom, to whom, which job titles were to be affected, etc.

Administrative Judge Michel Maranda will hear the lawyers’ arguments on this matter on Monday.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews