Quebec was able to reach an agreement with the unions
Half a million employees will be able to return to work in peace.
A New Year's miracle has come to Quebec: it seems that the provincial government has finally managed to make a decent offer to the unions. This means that one side will get good working conditions and the other side will be able to breathe, because all employees will finally go to work.
Who made the arrangements and how
Over the past two months, a number of Quebec labor unions have been on strike. One of the most high-profile was a protest by the Common Front, an alliance of four unions representing 420,000 public sector workers: health, education and social services. But even beyond them, several unions organized their own strikes: teachers, doctors, educators, and so on.
So on Tuesday night, the province struck a deal with the Syndicat des professionnelles et professionnels de Laval-Rive-Nord (Syndicate of Laval-Rive-Nord Employees), which represents about 1,000 school board employees near Montreal.
Late Wednesday night, the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE), representing some 66,000 teachers, told about the good offer from the government. They have been on indefinite strike since as early as November 23. The deal has yet to be negotiated and thus ratified, but the parties are already breathing a relaxed exhale. The union representatives believe they have finally been heard.
The Common Front has also supposedly found common ground with Quebec negotiators. One of the four federations — FTQ — reported Wednesday that a tentative agreement has been reached — just like all the other Common Front unions before it. However, union representatives emphasize that, at this point, no agreement has yet been signed at the common bargaining table. Behind it, the most pressing topic — wages — is still being discussed.
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