To: Detroit/Seattle
Workers' Voice mailing list
December 15, 2023
by Pete Brown, Detroit Workers’ Voice
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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Striking teachers on the march in Montreal
* Striking teachers demonstrate in front of the Montreal offices of the Quebec Treasury Board, Dec. 15, 2023.
Back to main
page, how to order CV, write us!
