Quebec strikes

[pete]

Public sector workers in Quebec threaten unlimited strike

Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers in Quebec – almost six and a half percent of the population – have been on strike during December. One large union has been on strike since November 23, and it has been joined by other unions for days at a time in limited strikes. But as government leaders are still refusing to put decent negotiating offers on the table, the unions are threatening to go on a united, unlimited strike in the new year. The government has only a few days left to agree to some of the unions’ demands before the year-end holidays ensue. If the union leaders cannot report on progress by then, the government could be faced with a general strike in January.

Striking workers include teachers, nurses, and all kinds of support staff in schools and hospitals – plumbers, carpenters, custodians, secretaries, etc. The strike has created problems for people in Quebec, as parents need to find day-care for their children whose schools are shut by the strike. And patients waiting for surgeries have had their surgeries rescheduled again and again. Wait times in hospital emergency rooms are getting longer. Despite this, Canadian news sources report that the strikers retain the strong support of the population, who want better working conditions for their teachers and nurses. Besides pay increases, teachers are looking for smaller class sizes and nurses want smaller workloads, with fewer patients. As to pay, the government is offering 12.7% over five years, which means another decline in salaries due to inflation. The unions are asking for 20% over three years. Teachers are due a raise going back to 2022, and Quebec nurses are presently the lowest paid nurses in Canada.

The unions have held massive demonstrations in Montreal and other cities, and they have garnered strong support from Quebecers.

Pictures of massive marches by the strikers can be seen at these references:

Erika Morris, “80,000 Quebec nurses join public sector strike for 4 days: Over 560,000 public sector workers are on strike Monday”. CBC News, December 11, 2023
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal ... -1.7055054
Matthew Lapierre, “Half a million people are striking in Quebec. Where is this going? More than 6% of province's population is on strike this week”. CBC News, December 12, 2023.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal ... -1.7055567