Construction union walks from table
The union representing 175,000 striking construction workers in Quebec announced on Sunday it rejected “final” contract offers presented by employer associations over the weekend.
The Alliance syndicale said it is now waiting to see the content of special back-to-work legislation the government of Premier Philippe Couillard said it will table in the National Assembly on Monday.
Union spokesperson Michel Trépanier confirmed on Sunday talks had broken off in the residential sector, the roadwork and civil engineering sector and in the institutional, commercial and industrial sector.
Those sectors employ 60 per cent of the 175,000 construction workers who have been on an unlimited strike since Wednesday.
“We’re being laughed at,” Trépanier said.
“We were (acting in) good faith since the beginning, and today we’re saying it’s finished.”
Trépanier, who said he’s calling on workers to protest in front of the National Assembly on Monday, called on the Quebec government to show “wisdom” in writing its back-to-work legislation.
“We’re sending a message to the government to be wise, to take the time to analyze,” he said.
“There will be a choice (on Monday)
There will be a choice (on Monday) between construction workers and their families and bosses and their friends.
between construction workers and their families and bosses and their friends.”
An association representing construction industry employers in the institutional, commercial and industrial sectors had submitted its final offer to the Alliance syndicale on Sunday afternoon.
The Association de la construction du Québec had given the union a 4 p.m. deadline to accept the deal or be forced back to work with special legislation.
“It’s a proposal that we judge to be win-win, which will satisfy the requirements set by the Alliance syndicale since the start of the negotiations,” Éric Côté, spokesperson for the ACQ, said in a statement earlier on Sunday.
Côté said construction employers made numerous concessions, including allowing voluntary work on Saturday at regular scale in case of bad weather and workfamily balance.
As for the civil engineering and roadwork sector, discussions continued on Sunday afternoon.
However, the union ended those talks as well, said Christian Croteau, a spokesperson for the Association des constructeurs de routes et grands travaux du Québec (ACRGTQ).
The government of Couillard has summoned all MNAs back to the National Assembly on Monday morning to pass a special law forcing construction employees back to work.
Labour Minister Dominique Vien had expressed hope a negotiated agreement is possible before then.
The ACQ announced its final offer a few hours after the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l’habitation du Québec walked out of negotiations in the residential sector.
APCHQ spokesperson William Simard said on Sunday the association had presented a final offer on Friday evening.
The association said it had made several concessions during negotiations and had considerably upped its salary offer. But it said the demands of the Alliance syndicale were unacceptable.
The APCHQ said its offer was an average of 1.9 per cent for the next four years, while the consumer price index increased, on average, by one per cent over the past four years.